Project Gutenberg's Helps to Latin Translation at Sight, by Edmund Luce
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Title: Helps to Latin Translation at Sight
Author: Edmund Luce
Release Date: May 20, 2009 [EBook #28890]
Language: English
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ETON COLLEGE

SPOTTISWOODE & CO., LIMITED

1908

All rights reserved

Whatever controversies may be astir
as to the precise objects of a classical training, it will hardly be
disputed that if that teaching has been successful the pupils will
sooner or later be able to make out an ordinary passage of ‘unseen’
Latin or Greek. It is a test to which the purely linguistic teacher must
obviously defer: while the master, who aims at imparting knowledge of
the subject-matter must acknowledge, if his boys flounder helplessly in
unprepared extracts, that they could have learnt about ancient life
better through translations.

In, addition to the value of unseen translation, as a test of
teaching it constitutes an admirable thinking exercise. But so numerous
are the various books of extracts already published that I should have
seen nothing to be gained from the appearance of a new one like the
present volume were it not, as far as I know, different in two important
respects from others. It contains six Demonstrations of how
sentences are to be attacked: and further, the passages are chosen so
that if a boy works through the book he can hardly fail to gain some
outline knowledge of Roman Republican history.

As to the Demonstrations, their value will be evident if it is
realised that failure in this sort of translation means failure to
analyse: to split up, separate, distinguish the component parts of an
apparently jumbled but really ordered sentence. A beginner must
learn to trust the solvent with which we supply him; and the way to
induce him to trust it is to show it to him at work.
vi
That is what a Demonstration will do if only the learner will give it a
fair chance.

In regard to the historical teaching contained in the extracts, there
can be little doubt that the present tendency of classical teaching is
towards emphasising the subject-matter as well as the language. It is
felt that as training in political principles the reading of Greek and
Roman authors offers unique advantages, such as many English boys can
appreciate, who are deaf to the literary appeal. The choice therefore of
historical extracts in chronological order is an attempt to recognise
both the two great aims of classical teaching at once. At any rate there
is no reason to suppose that the linguistic exercise is in any way
impaired by being combined with a little history.

I should like to direct attention also to the notes given on the
extracts, and the purpose they are meant to serve. If no notes had been
given some of the passages which are important or interesting
historically would have been found too difficult for the boys for whom
they are intended. Moreover, most of the notes concern the historical
aspect of the extract to which they belong, and are part of the scheme
by which the subject-matter of the passage is emphasised. Although the
passages themselves are not strictly graduated, the help given in
translation becomes less and less as the boy goes through the book; and
it is obvious that those extracts which illustrate the later periods of
Roman History will be found more difficult than the legends and stories
which belong to an earlier age. In cases where no help at all is
desired, the Miscellaneous Passages (which are without notes) may be
used.

The aim of the present book is to
help boys to translate at sight. Of the many books of unseen translation
in general use few exhibit continuity of plan as regards the
subject-matter, or give any help beyond a short heading. The average
boy, unequal to the task before him, is forced to draw largely upon his
own invention, and the master, in correcting written unseens, has seldom
leisure to do more than mark mistakes—a method of correction
almost useless to the boy, unless accompanied by full and careful
explanation when the written work is given back.

Now that less time is available for Latin and Greek, new methods of
teaching them must be adopted if they are to hold their own in our
public schools. When Lord Dufferin could say, ‘I am quite
determined, so far as care and forethought can prevent it, that the ten
best years of my boy’s life shall not be spent (as mine were) in
nominally learning two dead languages without being able to translate an
ordinary paragraph from either without the aid of a dictionary;’ and Dr.
Reid could write, ‘It is not too much to say that a large number of boys
pass through our schools without ever dreaming that an ancient writer
could pen three consecutive sentences with a connected meaning: chaos is
felt to be natural to ancient literature: no search is made for sense,
and the Latin or Greek book is looked upon as a more or less fortuitous
concourse of words;’ when Dr. Rouse can assert, ‘The public schoolboy at
nineteen is unable to read a simple Latin or Greek book with ease, or to
express a simple series of thoughts without atrocious blunders: he has
learnt from his classics neither accuracy
viii
nor love of beauty and truth’—it is obvious that, for the average
boy, the system of perfunctorily prepared set-books and dashed-off
unseens is a failure. The experience of every teacher who is also an
examiner, and who has had to deal with public schoolboys, will confirm
this; but during twenty-five years’ teaching and examining of boys in
almost every stage, I have found that translation at sight, taught
upon the plan of this book, not only produces a good result, but teaches
a boy how to grapple with the bare text of a Latin author better than
the habitual practice of translating at sight without any help at all.
If the average boy is to be taught how to translate, his interest must
be awakened and sustained, and the standard of routine work made as high
as possible. The clever boys are, as a rule, well provided for; but,
even for them, the methods of this book have been found to be the
shortest road to accuracy and style in translation. Moreover by this
means they have gained a firsthand acquaintance with Latin literature
and the sources of Roman history.

It is impossible here to enter into ‘the question of the close and
striking correspondence between the history, the literature, and the
language of Rome. It was not until the history of Rome threw its mantle
over her poetry that the dignity of the poet was recognised and
acknowledged. . . . In the same way the life of the Roman
people is closely bound up with the prose records, and the phenomena of
the Roman Empire lend a human interest to all representative Roman
writers.’1 Considerations of this kind form a sufficient
justification of the method here adopted of employing the historical
records of Rome as a basis of teaching.

In this book the Introduction (pp. 1-14) is written to teach a boy
how to arrive at the meanings of words (Helps to Vocabulary, pp.
1-5); how to find out the thought of a sentence through analysis and a
knowledge
ix
of the order of words in Latin (Helps to-Translation, pp. 5-12);
how to reproduce in good English the exact meaning and characteristics
of his author (Helps to Style, pp. 13-14).

In the Demonstrations (pp. 15-58) the boy is taught to notice all
allusions that give him a clue to the sense of the passage, to grapple
with the difficulties of construction, to break up sentences, and to
distinguish between the principal and the subordinate thoughts both in
prose and verse.

The Passages have been carefully selected, and contain accounts of
nearly all the important events and illustrious men of the period of
history to which they belong. They are chronologically arranged and
divided into six periods, covering Roman history from B.C. 753 to B.C.
44, leaving the Augustan and subsequent period to be dealt with in a
second volume. The translation help given in the notes is carefully
graduated. The notes to Parts I., II., III. (marked D, pp. 60-107) are
thus intended to help younger boys to deal with passages which would in
some cases be too difficult for them; less help in translation is given
in Parts IV. and V. (marked C, pp. 108-159); while the notes to Part VI.
(marked B, pp. 160-236) are mainly concerned with historical
explanation, illustration, or allusion.

The Miscellaneous Passages (pp. 238-271), chosen for me by my
brother-in-law, Mr. A. M. Goodhart (Assistant Master at Eton
College), are added to provide occasional passages in which no help is
given. It is hoped that these, which deal with subjects of general
interest, and include a somewhat wide range of authors, may give variety
to the book, and supply more verse passages than the historical
character of the rest would admit. For the sake of variety, or to
economise time, some of the passages may be translated viva voce
at the discretion of the master.

The Appendices (pp. 274-363) may be
referred to when a boy finds himself in doubt about the value of
x
a Conjunction (I.), the force of a Prefix (II.), the meaning of a Suffix
(III.), the Life and Times of his Author (VI.), or the historical
significance of a date (VII.). In Appendix V. a Demonstration is
given to show how a boy, after sufficient practice in translation by the
help of analysis, may to some extent learn to think in Latin, and so to
follow the Latin order in arriving at the thought.

The important question of what maps should accompany the book will be
best solved by providing each boy with a copy of Murray’s Small
Classical Atlas, edited by G. B. Grundy, which will be found to be
admirably adapted to the purpose. By the kindness of Mr. John Murray,
two plans (Dyrrachium and Pharsalus), not at present included in the
Atlas, have been specially drawn to illustrate passages on pp. 216 and 218, and are placed
opposite the text.

As far as possible I have acknowledged my indebtedness to the Editors
whose editions of the classics have been consulted. For the historical
explanations I am under special obligation to the histories of Ihne and
Mommsen, to the ‘Life of Cicero’ by the Master of Balliol, and to the
‘Life of Caesar’ by Mr. Warde Fowler. I have also to thank Messrs.
Macmillan for allowing me to quote from Dr. Potts’ ‘Aids to Latin
Prose,’ and from Professor Postgate’s Sermo Latinus. For the
prose passages the best texts have been consulted, while for Livy,
Weissenborn’s text edited by Müller (1906) has been followed throughout.
As regards the verse passages, the text adopted is, wherever possible,
that of Professor Postgate’s recension of the Corpus Poetarum
Latinorum. For the Short Lives I have found useful ‘The Student’s
Companion to Latin Authors’ (Middleton and Mills), but I owe much more
to the works of Teuffel, Cruttwell, Sellar, Tyrrell, and Mackail.

The Head Master of Eton, besides expressing his approval of the book,
has kindly offered to write an Introductory Note. He has also given me
an exceptional
xi
opportunity of testing more than half the historical passages by
allowing them to be used in proof, until the book was ready, for the
weekly unseen translation in the
three blocks of fifth form, represented by the letters, B, C, D.
The criticisms and suggestions made by Classical Masters at Eton, who
have used the passages week by week, have been very valuable, and, in
particular, my thanks are due to Mr. Impey, Mr. Tatham, Mr. Macnaghten,
Mr. Wells, and Mr. Ramsay. My thanks are also due to the Lower Master,
Mr. F. H. Rawlins, for kindly reading the MS. of the Introduction,
Demonstrations, and Appendices I.-IV., and for giving me the benefit of
his wide experience.

To my brother-in-law, Mr. A. M. Goodhart, I owe it that I undertook
to write the book; without his advice it would never have seen the
light, and he has given me most valuable help and encouragement at every
stage.

As regards the choice of type and style of printing, I owe a special
debt of thanks to Mr. W. Hacklett (manager of Messrs.
Spottiswoode’s Eton branch), whose unceasing care and attention has been
invaluable in seeing the book through the press. I must also
acknowledge the patience and skill of Messrs. Spottiswoode’s London
staff in carrying out the many alterations which I have found to be
inseparable from the task of bringing each passage and its notes into
the compass of a single page.

In conclusion I should like to say that it has been my aim throughout
to adhere to what is best in Roman literature, and to omit passages the
choice of which can only be justified by regarding their literary form
apart from their moral value. Latin literature contains so much that is
at once excellent in style and noble in thought that it seems a grave
mistake to exalt the one at the expense of the other.

1.Heading.—The selections in this book are in most cases
intelligible apart from their context. In cases where this is not so,
you will find it a valuable exercise to endeavour to arrive at the
context for yourself. In all cases, however, you should pay attention to
the Heading, which will give you a useful clue to the meaning of
the passage,

2.Author.—When you see the author’s name, try to remember
what you know about him. For example, Livy, the historian of Rome
and friend of Augustus, the contemporary of Vergil and Ovid. The short
Lives, pp. 293-345, will tell you the chief facts about the authors from
whom the selections are taken, and will give you a brief summary of
their chief works. Also, if you refer to Appendix VII., pp. 347-363, you
will gain some idea of the time in which the authors lived and of their
contemporaries.

4.Through English
Derivatives.—English derivatives, if used in the proper way,
may give you valuable help in inferring meanings. The reason why you
must generally not translate the Latin word by the derived
English word is that, as
2
you probably know, many English derivatives have come from Latin words
which had wholly or in part lost their earlier classical meaning, or
from Latin words not found at all in classical Latin. Yet in such cases
the English word may be far from useless. You must take care to let it
suggest to you the original or root-meaning, leaving the correct meaning
of the Latin, whether the same as the English word or not, to be
determined by the context.

For example, sē-cūr-us does not mean secure, but (like
secure in Shakespeare and Milton) care-less.

‘This happy night the Frenchmen are secure,

Having all day caroused and banqueted.’

Shakespeare, Hen. VI. Part 1.
II. i. 11.

In-crēd-ib-il-is, on the other hand, often cannot be better
translated than by incredible, and im-plācā-bilis by
implacable.

Notice, too, how often in the case of verbs the supine stem
will suggest to you the meaning of the Latin through some English
derivative, which the present stem conceals.

For example:—

pingo

pictum

picture

suggests

to paint.

caveo

cautum

caution

„

„ beware.

colo

cultum

culture

„

„ till.

fallo

falsum

false

„

„ deceive.

5.Through French
Derivatives.—Sometimes, when you cannot think of an English
derivative, a French word that you know will help you to the
meaning of the Latin.

For example:—

L.

F.

pontem

pont

suggests

bridge.

gustum

goût

„

taste.

prātum

pré

„

meadow.

tālem

tel

„

such.

bĭbĕre

boire

„

to drink.

But, in order to make French derivatives a real help to you, you must
know something of the origin of the French language and of the chief
rules that govern the pronunciation (and therefore the spelling) of
French. Without going too much into detail, it may help you to remember
that—

3

(1) French has taken many words from colloquial Latin,
which in the days of Cicero was very different from classical Latin.

For example:—

Literary Latin.

Popular Latin.

French.

equus

caballus

cheval

horse.

pugna

batalia

bataille

battle.

os

bucca

bouche

mouth.

(2) Unaccented syllables are usually dropped.

For example:—

cérv-um

cerf

stag.

bonitátem

bonté

goodness.

(3) The general tendency of French is towards smoothness and
contraction.

For example:—

L.

F.

bestiam

bête

beast.

fact-um

fait

deed.

spiss-um

épais

thick.

coll-um

cou

neck.

In fact, bearing in mind the caution given you, it is an excellent
rule to try to think out the meaning of the Latin by the help of English
and French derivatives.

6.Compound
Words.—When you come to a word which you cannot translate,
and in regard to which English and French derivatives do not help you,
break up the word, if a compound, into its simple elements of
Prefix, Stem, Suffix. Then from the meaning of its
root or stem and from the force of the prefix and suffix, and by the
help of the context, try to arrive at an English word to suit the
sense.

In order to be able to do this you should have some
knowledge of—

(1) A few simple rules for
the vowel changes of verbs in composition. Thus:

a before two consonants (except ng) often changes to
e.

E.g. sacr-o, con-secr-o; damn-o,
con-demn-o.

a before one consonant and before ng often changes to
i.

E.g. fac-io, ef-fic-io; căd-o,
ac-cid-o; tang-o, con-ting-o.

But grăd-ior, ag-grĕd-ior.

4

a before l and another consonant changes to
u.

E.g. salt-are, in-sult-are.

ĕ changes to ĭ (but not e before two consonants)
and ae to i.

E.g. ten-ere, ob-tin-ere; quaer-ere,
in-quir-ere.

au changes to u.

E.g. claud-ere, in-clud-ere.

(2)Prefixes:—To help you to detach the prefix more readily,
notice these simple euphonic changes, all of which result in making the
pronunciation smoother and easier. Thus:—

(i.) The last consonant of a Latin prefix is often made the same as,
or similar to, the first consonant of the stem.

E.g.ad-fero = affero; ob-pono = op-pono;
com(=cum)-tendo = con-tendo.

(ii.) The final consonant of a prefix is often dropped before two
consonants.

E.g.ad-scendo = a-scendo.

Notice also that the prepositional prefixes to verbs express
different ideas in different combinations.

Thus, sometimes the prefix has a somewhat literal
prepositional force.

But the Germans quickly formed into a phalanx, as was their custom,
and received the attacks of the swords (i.e. of the Romans with
drawn swords).

(5) If the sentence contains one or more subordinate clauses,
consider each subordinate clause as if it were bracketed off
separately, and then deal with each clause as if it were a principal
sentence, finding out its Subject, Verb, Object, and adding to each its
enlargements. Then return to the sentence as a whole, and group round
its Subject, Predicate, and Object the various subordinate clauses which
belong to each.

6

8.Help through
Analysis.—Very often analysis will help you to find out the
proper relation of the subordinate clauses to the three parts of
the Principal Sentence. You need not always analyse on paper, but do it
always in your mind. You will find an example of a simple method
of analysis at the close of Demonstrations I and IV, pp.
23, 47.

When analysing, notice carefully that:—

(1) An enlargement of a Noun may be

(a) An adjective

TERTIAM aciem.

(b) A noun in apposition

Publius Crassus ADULESCENS.

(c) A dependent genitive

impetus GLADIORUM.

(d) A participle or participial phrase

nostris LABORANTIBUS.

(e) An adjectival clause

Publius Crassus QUI EQUITATUI PRAEERAT.

(2) An enlargement of a Verb may be

(a) An adverb

CELERITER exceperunt.

(b) A prepositional phrase

EX CONSUETUDINE SUA exceperunt.

(c) An ablative absolute

PHALANGE FACTA exceperunt.

(d) An adverbial clause

ID CUM ANIMADVERTISSET, Publius Crassus misit.

9.Help through
Punctuation.—Though only the full-stop was used by the
ancients, the punctuation marks which are now used in all printed texts
should be carefully noticed, especially in translating long and involved
sentences.

Thus in Demonstrations III and IV notice how the subordinate clauses
are for the most part enclosed in commas.

10.Help through
Scansion and Metre.—A knowledge of this is indispensable in
translating verse. To scan the lines will help you to determine the
grammatical force of a word, and a knowledge of metre will enable you to
grasp the poet’s meaning as conveyed by the position which he assigns to
the various words, and the varying emphasis which results from variation
of metre. For example:—

(1) A grammatical help.—You know that final -a is
short in nom. and voc. sing. 1st Decl., and in neut. plural, and
is long in abl. sing. 1st Decl. and 2nd Imperat. 1st Conj.

Thus in Demonstration II (p. 24) you can
easily determine the grammatical form of finals in -a.

7

In Sentence IV agnă, in VI cervă, in VIII iunctă
columbă, in IX Cynthiă are all short and nom. sing.

In Sentence V umbrā unā are long and abl. sing. in
agreement.

(2) A help to the poet’s meaning.—The more you know of
the principles of scansion, the better able you will be to understand
and appreciate the skill with which a great poet varies his metre and
chooses his words.

11.Help through a
Study of the Period in Latin.—One great difference between
English and Latin Prose is that, while modern English is to a great
extent a language of short, detached sentences, Latin expresses the
sense by the passage as a whole, and holds the climax in suspense
until the delivery of the last word. ‘This mode of expression is called
a PERIOD (a circuĭtus or ambĭtus verborum),
because the reader, in order to collect together the words of the
Principal Sentence, must make a circuit, so to say, round the
inserted clauses,’2 ‘Latin possesses what English does not, a mode of
expression by means of which, round one main idea are grouped all its
accessory ideas, and there is thus formed a single harmonious whole,
called the PERIOD.’3

A PERIOD then is a sentence containing only one main idea (the
Principal Sentence) and several Subordinate Clauses. The Periodic style
is generally used for History and Description, and is best seen in
Cicero and Livy.

TheVOLSCIANSfound that
now they were severed from every
other hope, there was but little in
prolonging the conflict. In addition
to other disadvantages they
had engaged on a spot ill-adapted
for fighting and worse for flight.
Cut to pieces on every side they
abandoned the contest and cried for
quarter. After surrendering their
commander and delivering up their
arms, they passed under the yoke, and
with one garment eachWERE
SENTto their homes covered with
disgrace and defeat.

8

Notice here that

(1) There is only one main idea, that of the ignominious return of
the Volscians to their homes.

(2) The rest describes the attendant circumstances of the surrender
and of the causes that led to it.

(3) In English we should translate by at least four separate
sentences.

(4) The Latin contains only forty-eight words, while the English
contains eighty-one.

Professor Postgate (‘Sermo Latinus,’ p. 45) gives the following
example of the way in which a Latin PERIOD may be
built up:—

BALBUS, an excellent man and
most distinguished commander, who
had endeared himself to me by
numerous kindnesses, was requested
by the Arverni to make a display
of the power and greatness of Rome,
and at the same time to leave behind
him a memorial of his own government.
He accordinglyBUILTaWALLof bricks, twenty feet wide,
sixty high, and extending to such a
prodigious length that you could
hardly trust your own eyes that it
was so large, still less induce others
to believe it. But he did not
escape the malign rumour that he
had designs upon the imperial
crown.

rogitantibus . . . relinqueret = the cause of
the building of the wall.

(murum) non sine . . . adfectaret = the attendant
circumstances of the building of the wall; placed, therefore,
beforeAEDIFICAVIT.

(3) In English we must translate by at least three separate
sentences, and, where necessary, translate participles as finite verbs,
and change dependent clauses into independent sentences.

It has been well said: ‘An English sentence does not often exhibit
the structure of the Period. It was imitated, sometimes with great skill
and beauty, by many of the earlier writers of English prose; but its
effect is better seen in poetry, as in the following passage:—

“High on a throne of royal state, which far

Outshone the wealth of Ormuz and of Ind,

Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand

Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,

Satan exalted sat.”

Milton, Paradise Lost, ii.
1-5.

12.Help through a
Knowledge of the Order of Words in Latin.—If you study the
examples already given of the Period you will see that the Order of
Words in English differs very much from the Order of Words in
Latin.

Dr. Abbott writes as follows: ‘The main difference between English
and Latin is that in English the meaning depends mainly on the
order of words, and the emphasis mainly on the
voice, while in Latin the meaning depends almost entirely
on the inflexions, and the emphasis upon the
order.’

Thus, if we take the English sentence, Caesar conquered the
Gauls, we cannot invert the order of Caesar and Gauls
without entirely changing the meaning. In Latin, however, we may write
(since each Latin word has its own proper inflexion, serving almost as a
label)

Caesar vicit Gallos: Gallos Caesar vicit: Caesar
Gallos vicit, without any change of meaning except that of shifting
the emphasis from one word to another.

As theFACTshowed . . . spirits running riot
fromPROSPERITY . . . to watch theCOURSEpursued by his brother . . . he restored what
was almost a lostCAUSE . . . by saying that
kingdoms grow by variousMEANS.

In translating RES, avoid at all costs the word
THING, or THINGS, and let the context guide you to the
appropriate English word.

(3) You may often
translate a Latin Active by an English Passive. Latin prefers the
Active because it is more direct and vivid.

For example:—

Liberas aedes coniurati sumpserunt.

An empty house had been occupied by the conspirators.

(4) Use great care in
translating Latin Participles, and make clear in your translation
the relation of the participial enlargements to the action of the main
Verb.

For example:—

concessive:

Romani, non ROGATI, auxilium offerunt.

The Romans, though they were not asked, offer
help.

final:

Fortuna superbos interdum RUITURA levat.

Fortune sometimes raises the proud, onlyto dash them
down.

12
causal:

S. Ahala Sp. Maelium regnum APPETENTEM interemit.

S. Ahala killed Sp. Maeliusfor aiming atthe royal
power.

Notice also:—

Pontem captum incendit = He took and burned the
bridge.

Nescio quem prope adstantem interrogavi.

I questioned someone who was standing by.

Haec dixit moriens = He said this while
dying.

Nuntiata clades = The news of the disaster.

(5) In translating, try to
bring out the exact force of the Ablative Absolute, by which a
Latin writer shows the time or circumstances of the action expressed by
the Predicate. The Ablative Absolute is an adverbial enlargement of the
Predicate, and is not grammatically dependent on any word in the
sentence. It is, therefore, called absolutus (i.e. freed
from or unconnected). It should very seldom be translated
literally. Your best plan will be to consider carefully what the
Ablative Absolute seems to suggest about the action of the Principal
Verb.

For example:—

Capta Troia, Graeci domum redierunt.

The Greeks returned home after the capture of Troy.

Regnante Romulo, Roma urbs erat parva.

When Romulus was reigning, Rome was a small city.

Exercitu collecto in hostes contenderunt.

They collected an army and marched against the enemy.

Nondum hieme confecta in fines Nerviorum contendit.

Though the winter was not yet over, he hastened to the territory
of the Nervii.

Thereupon, after saluting the enemy’s general, he turned to
his companions, and setting spurs to his horse, rode past the ranks of
the Germans, without either waiting for his staff, or receiving an
answer from anyone.

Though Style cannot perhaps be taught, it can certainly be formed and
improved. There are several ways of improving your Style. For
example:—

14.Through the Best
English Literature.—Read good Literature, the best
English Authors in prose and verse. You will know something, perhaps, of
Shakespeare and Scott, of Macaulay and Tennyson. Though you may not be
able to attack the complete works of any great author, you ought not to
have any difficulty in finding good books of selections from the English
Classics.

15.Through good
Translations.—Study a few good English Versions of
passages from the best Latin writers. You may often have a good version
of the passage you translate read to you in your Division after your
mistakes have been pointed out to you, and to this you should pay great
attention. You will thus learn eventually to suit your style to the
Author you are translating, while at the same time you render the
passage closely and accurately.

16.Be
Clear.—Remember that the first characteristic of a good
style is clearness—that is, to say what you mean and to
mean what you say. Quintilian, the great critic, says that the aim of
the translator should be, not that the reader may understand if he will,
but that he must understand whether he will or not. The more you
read the greatest Authors the more you will see that, as Coleridge says,
‘there is a reason assignable not only for every word, but for the
position of every word.’

17.Be
Simple.—With clearness goes simplicity—that is, use no
word you do not understand, avoid fine epithets, and do not
choose a phrase for its sound alone, but for its sense.

18.Avoid
Paraphrase.—You are asked to translate, not to give a mere
general idea of the sense. What you have to do is to think out the
exact meaning of every word in the sentence, and to express this in
as good and correct English as you can.

19.Pay attention to
Metaphors.—The subject of Metaphor is of great importance in
good translation. You will find that every language possesses its own
special Metaphors in addition to those which are common to most European
languages. As you become familiar with Latin Authors you
14
must try to distinguish the Metaphors common to English and Latin
and those belonging only to English or to Latin.

For example:—

(1) Metaphors identical in Latin and English—

Progreditur res publica naturali quodam itinere et cursu.

The State advances in a natural path and progress.

(2) Metaphors differing in Latin and English—

cedant arma togae

= let the sword yield to the pen.

ardet acerrime coniuratio

= the conspiracy is at its height.

rex factus est

= he ascended the throne.

conticuit

= he held his peace.

20.Careful
Translation a Help to Style.—In conclusion. Nothing will
help your style more than to do your translations as well as you
possibly can, and to avoid repeating the same mistakes. The
Latins themselves knew the value of translation as a help to style.

For example, Pliny the Younger says:—

‘As useful as anything is the practice of translating either your
Greek into Latin or your Latin into Greek. By practising this you will
acquire propriety and dignity of expression, an abundant choice of the
beauties of style, power in description, and gain in the imitation of
the best models a facility of creating such models for yourself.
Besides, what may escape you when you read, cannot escape you when you
translate.’

NOTE

The use of a personal mode of
address in the following Demonstrations is explained by the fact that
they are written primarily for the use of boys. It is hoped, however,
that they may be found useful to masters also, and that the fulness with
which each passage is treated may supply some helpful suggestions.

Demonstration I.

Caesar, B. G. i. 52.
Reiectis pilis . . . restitutum est.

Heading and Author.—This tells you enough for working
purposes, even if you do not remember the outline facts of Caesar’s
campaign against Ariovistus, the chief of the Germans, called in by the
Gauls in their domestic quarrels, who conquered and ruled them until he
was himself crushed by the Romans.

Read through the passage carefully.—As you do this,
notice all allusions and key-words that help you to the sense of the
passage, e.g.Germani, nostri milites, Publius
Crassus. The general sense of the passage should now be so plain
(i.e. an incident in a battle between the Germans and the Romans)
that you may begin to translate sentence by sentence.

Reiectis = re + iacio = throw back or
away. The context will tell you which is the better meaning for
re-. Notice the force of all prefixes in composition, whether
separate or inseparable as here. For re-, see pp. 280, 281.

PUGNATUM EST. The only finite verb in the sentence, and the
principal one. The form shows you it is a so-called impersonal verb, and
therefore the subject must be sought from the verb itself in connection
with the context. Here, clearly, you must translate the battle was
fought.

cominus tells us how, i.e. hand to hand.

reiectis pilis. You will recognise this as an ablative
absolute phrase. But do not translate this literally their
javelins having been thrown away, for this is not English. Let the
principal verb and the sense generally guide you to the force of the
phrase. Thus you can see here that the Roman soldiers had no use for
their javelins, and so threw them away as a useless
18
encumbrance. (The context tells us that the Roman soldiers had no time
to hurl their javelins against the foe.) You can now translate the whole
sentence—(and so) the Romans threw away their javelins
and fought hand to hand with swords.

ex consuetudine sua = according to their custom. You
will probably have met with consuetudo, or consuesco, or
suesco. Our own word custom comes from it through the
French coutume. For this use of ex cf. ex
sententia, ex voluntate.

phalange = phalanx. If you learn Greek, you will
readily think of the famous Macedonian phalanx.

insilirent = in + salio = leap-on. And
cf. our insult. Notice the usual phonetic change of vowel from
a to i. (English derivatives will often help you to the
meaning of a Latin word,
19
though, for reasons that are explained to you in the Introduction, pp.
1, 2, § 4, you must let them lead you up to the root-meaning of
the Latin word rather than to an exact translation.)

revellerent = re + vello = pluck-away. If
you forget the meaning of vello, the supine vulsum through
some English derivative—e.g. re-vulsion,
con-vulsion—will probably help you to the root-meaning.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains four finite
verbs. As you read it through, underline the principal verb, clearly
REPERTI SUNT, and bracket qui to vulnerarent. You
cannot doubt which verbs to include in your bracket, for qui,
which is a subordinate conjunction as well as a relative pronoun, serves
as a sure signpost. Also revellerent and vulnerarent are
joined by et—et to insilirent, so your bracket
includes all from qui to vulnerarent. The commas in the
passage will often help you to the beginning and end of a subordinate
clause. Now begin with the principal verb REPERTI SUNT and its
subject complures nostri MILITES, many of our soldiers were
found.

qui . . . vulnerarent. This subordinate clause
describes, just as an adjective does, the character of these
complures nostri, so that qui = tales ut—i.e.
brave enough to leap upon the phalanxes, and pluck away the
shields (of the Germans) and wound them from
above.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains three finite
verbs. Underline PREMEBANT, clearly the principal verb, and
bracket cum to conversa esset. Here the signpost is the
subordinate conjunction cum. Next find the subject of
premebant: obviously no word from a dextro to aciem
can be the subject; it is implied in premebant—i.e.
they, which as context shows = Germani. Now find the
object = nostram aciem = our line.

20

Thus you have as the backbone of the whole sentence:—

They (the Germans) were pressing our line.

All the rest of the sentence will now take its proper place, as in
some way modifying the action of premebant.

Thus:—

cum . . . conversa esset

tells us

when

they were pressing.

a dextro cornu

„ „

where

„ „

vehementer

„ „

how

„ „

multitudine suorum

„ „

how or why

„ „

N.B.—suorum, reflexive, must be identical with the
subject of premebant.

Now translate

ThoughWhen

the enemy’s line had been routed and put to flight on their left
wing,

on their right wing, owing to their great numbers, they were pressing
hard upon our line.

versabantur—(verso frequent. of verto) =
turn this way and that; so verso-r dep. = turn
oneself, engage in, be, according to the context.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is more involved,
‘periodic’8 in style. You will see on p.
23 how much help can be given by a more detailed analysis.

Now, as before, bracket the subordinate clauses thus:—

1. Id . . . adulescens

2. qui . . . praeerat

3. quod . . . versabantur

and then the only principal verb is MISIT. Underline this.
Next underline the principal subject, clearly P. CRASSUS,
21
which is also the subject of clause 1. Then, outside the
brackets, the only possible object is ACIEM: underline
this.

You should now be able to translate without any difficulty; only take
care to arrange the enlargements so as to make the best sense and the
best English. Thus: When Publius Crassus the younger, who was in
command of the cavalry, had observed this, he sent the third line to the
help of our men who were hard pressed, as he was more free to act than
those who were engaged in action.

Remember that one passage mastered is worth a great many
hurriedly translated. So before you leave this passage notice carefully
in the

I. Vocabulary.—

(i.) Any words that are quite new to you. Look them out in the
dictionary, and notice their derivation and use; if you do not do this
you will find the same word new to you the next time you meet
with it.

(ii.) English Derivatives.—As you have seen, these will
often help you to the root-meaning of a word. Thus:—

reiectis = reject, throw away

insilirent = insult, jump on

and in the case of verbs, as these two examples show, derivatives are
most easily found from the supine stem.

N.B.—This must be done very carefully, because many such
English derivatives have come from Latin words after they had wholly, or
in part, lost their classical meaning, or from Latin words not found at
all in classical Latin.

A great many other English words are derived from the Latin of this
passage—e.g. pugnacious, (with) celerity,
fact, except, military, manual,
super-sede, vulnerable, hostile, sinister,
uni-corn, and many others.

22

(iii.) Prefixes.—Notice especially the force of
prepositions and inseparable particles in composition, e.g.:—

Demonstration II.

Heading and Author.—The heading will probably suggest to
you the well-known story of Arion and the Dolphin, and the name of the
author, Ovid, will lead you to expect a beautiful version of the
legend.

Read the Passage carefully.—As you read, notice all
allusions that help you to the sense of the passage. Thus the first line
(which you can no doubt translate at once) tells of the fame of Arion,
and the succeeding lines describe the charm of his music.

The Form of the Passage: Elegiac Verse.—Scan9 as you read, and
mark the quantity in the verse of all finals in -a. You will see
the value of this, as you translate.

You can now begin to translate, taking one complete sentence at a
time.

(i.) Vocabulary.—You will know all the words here, but
observe nōvit = knows, not knew, for nōvi
means I have become acquainted with, I have learned, and
[Symbol: therefore] I know; and notice also the important
cognates from the √γνο-,
γνω-,-gna, -gno, γι-γνώ-σκω = I learn to know, cf. our
know, ken, can, con—νό-ος (mind), -gna-rus =
know-ing; no-sco (= gno-sco).

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence contains no subordinates;
the two finite verbs, nōvit, nescit, are both
principal.

Next, the form of the sentence, with the question-mark at the end,
shows that mare must be the subject of nōvit, and
tellus of nescit. (Ărīŏnă cannot be nominative, for
the suffix -a is the usual Greek 3rd decl. Acc. Sing., where
Latin has -em.)
26
Also quod and quae are clearly interrogative and
adjectival; so translate:—

(i.) Vocabulary.—All you need notice here is the force of
re- in retentus = held back, cf. our
re-tain.

(ii.) Translation.—Before you translate, notice Ovid’s
frequent use of parataxis, i.e. placing one thought side
by side with another thought, without any connective, even although one thought
is, in sense, clearly subordinate to another. This is one of the ways in
which all great poets heighten the effect of what they say, and
many examples of it are to be found in Ovid’s best elegiac verse. As you
look through this passage you will find:

(a) Lines 1, 2, 3, 4 each form a complete sentence.

(b) In the whole passage there is not one subordinate
conjunction.

(c) The only expressed connective is the simplest link-word
et.

The principal verb is retentus est, the subject lupus.
Sequens agnam describes lupus, and saepe and a
voce tell us when and why the wolf was
stayed.

Often has the wolf in pursuit of the lamb been stayed at the
sound.

(For this use of a or ab to express origin or
source cf. Ovid, Fasti, v. 655: Pectora
traiectus Lynceo Castorab ense.)

(ii.) Translation.—The metre shows proximă must be
taken with cervă. But to translate the nearest stag
(hind) makes
28
nonsense, and renders leae untrans­latable, while the hind
very close to the lioness makes good sense.

Palladis. You have no doubt heard of Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη, the virgin goddess of war
and of wisdom.

(ii.) Translation.—The force of the illustration lies in
the strong contrast between the chattering, tale-bearing crow and the
wise, silent owl sacred to the goddess of wisdom. Two such opposites,
under the spell of Arion’s music, forget to quarrel, though for the time
in close company.

And the chattering crow has without strife sat in company with the
bird of Pallas.

Cynthia = Diana (Artemis), so called from Mt.
Cynthus, in Delos, where she and Apollo were born.

29

Fertur = is said, asserted; cf. fĕrunt =
they say.

Vōcalis = tuneful, clearly from same root as
vox, vŏc-o, &c., of our vocal. For change of
quantity cf. rex, rēgis, from rĕgo.

Obstŭpuisse = to have been spell-bound; stŭp-eo,
stŭp-idus, and our stupefy, stupid will suggest the
root-meaning.11

Mŏdis = measures, especially of verse, or, as here, of
music.

(ii.) Translation.—You will remember that Apollo, the god
who brings back light and sunshine in spring, is also the god of music
and of poetry. Ovid skilfully implies that Arion’s playing was so
beautiful that even Diana, Apollo’s own sister, mistakes Arion’s playing
for her brother’s.

This sentence takes up a whole couplet, but is in form quite simple.
Thus fertur is the incomplete predicate, and obstupuisse saepe
tuis modis tamquam fraternis completes the predicate, i.e.
tells us all that is said of the subject Cynthia.

Vōcalis Ărīon is clearly vocative, or nominative of
address.

O tuneful Arion, often is Cynthia said to have been spell-bound by
thy strains, as by those of her brother (Apollo).

You have now learnt how to translate this passage, but you must do
more before you can master it. Thus in these simple but beautiful lines
notice:—

(i.) Vocabulary.—This is easy and familiar, but even if you
know the meaning of the words study their
cognates—i.e. related words—as pointed out to
you in the vocabulary, e.g. under nōvit, p. 25, sentence I.

(ii.) English Derivatives.—Remember that often, where you
cannot think of an English derivative, some very familiar French
word will help you to the root-meaning of the Latin. Thus:—

Latin.

French.

English.

Carmine

Charme

Charm (Song)

Agnam

Agneau

Lamb

Lupus

Loup

Wolf

Cerva

Cerf

Stag (Hind)

30

and notice that where the English word, e.g. charm, differs in
spelling from the Latin, it is because it comes to us through a French
channel. Cf. feat from Fr. fait = L. factum.

(iii.) Allusions and Parallel Passages.—In verse these are
often numerous and important. Poetry is naturally full of imagery, and
borrows from many sources. Thus, for ll. 1-8, compare Hor. Od. I.
xii. 5:

‘Aut in umbrosis Heliconis oris

....

Arte materna rapidos morantem

Fluminum lapsus . . .’

and Verg. G. iv. 510:

‘Mulcentem tigris et agentem carmine quercus.’

Shakesp. Hen. VIII. III. i.:

‘Orpheus with his lute made trees,

And the mountain-tops that freeze,

Bow themselves when he did sing’;

or read Tennyson’s poem ‘Amphion.’

Lines 5, 6.—Cf. Isaiah xi. 6: ‘The wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf
and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall
lead them.’

(iv.) Hints for Verses.—Ovid is the acknowledged master of
elegiac verse. Therefore, whenever you have a passage of his elegiacs to
translate, you should, if possible, learn it by heart. (The Arion story
as told by Ovid is well worth a place in any collection of
Ediscenda.) If you cannot do this, notice useful phrases and
turns of expression, e.g.:—

Line 1.—A question, instead of a bare statement, where
no answer is expected.

Cf. ‘Quod crimen dicis praeter amasse meum?’

(Dido to Aeneas, Ov. Her. vii. 164.)

Lines 3, 4.—Parataxis and repetition of idea.

Line 9.—Vocalis Arion, apostrophe.

Line 2.—Simplicity; alliteration.

(v.) The Poem as Literature.—Ovid here depicts in language
purposely exaggerated the power of music over the hearts of
31
men, and even over nature, animate and inanimate. This gives point to
the strong contrast in the lines which follow, where greed dominates all
the feelings. Shakespeare refers to the love of music as a test of
character:—

oblata est shows that the subject must be fortuna, with
which alia must agree, and gerendae rei is dependent
genitive. So you may at once translate literally Another fortune
(chance) of carrying-on the matter well in these parts was
offered to Hannibal. But you must not be satisfied with this, for
though literally correct it is neither good History nor good English. So
render: In this district Hannibal had another chance presented to him
of achieving a success.

Here notice especially the use of the word res,12
a remarkable example of the tendency of Roman writers to employ the
ordinary and simple vocabulary wherever possible instead of inventing
a new word. As a writer well says, ‘Res is, so to say,
a blank cheque, to be filled up from the context to the requisite
34
amount of meaning.’ Cf. ‘Consilium erat quo fortuna rem daret, eo
inclinare vires,’ where res = victory.

(ii.) Translation.—The form of this sentence is quite
simple. The subject is M. Centenius, with which
insignis agrees. There was a certain M. Centenius, by
surname Penula, distinguished among the first-rank (or chief)
centurions (of the Triarii) both for his great bodily size and
courage.

(ii.) Translation.—The principal verb is clearly
petit, and is is the only possible subject (=
Centenius), with which introductus agrees. There is one
subordinate clause, introduced by ut, telling us the object of
his request.

Translate, first literally, He having discharged completely his
military service, being introduced into the Senate by P. C. Sulla,
the Praetor, asks the Fathers that 5000 soldiers should be given
him. Now improve this: get rid at all costs of the having and
being, which are not English, and change the asks into the
past tense of narration. Thus:—

After he had completed his term of service, and had been introduced
to the Senate by P. Corn. Sulla, the Praetor,35
he petitioned the Fathers that 5000 soldiers should be given
him.

ad id locorum13 = to that point of time. The ideas of
place and time readily interchange; so, in loco =
at the right place or time.

(ii.) Translation.—The form of the sentence shows that it
is reported speech, and not the actual words of the speaker
Centenius, who is still the principal subject, and dixit,
understood, the principal verb, and se peritum . . .
usurum the object of dixit. You should now be able to
translate without any difficulty, and the logical common-sense rules for
the conversion of Or. Recta into Or. Obliqua explain the mood of the
verb capti forent in the subordinate clause introduced by
quibus.

Literally: Centenius said that he, experienced in both the enemy
and the districts, would soon make it worth (their) while:
and that he would use against their inventor those arts by which up to
that time both our leaders and our armies had been overcome. Notice
that the long relative clause quibus artibus . . .
forent is in Latin placed before the antecedent iis.

You will readily see that this must be improved in several points.
Thus:—

(a) Use Oratio Recta—more graphic and better
suited to our idiom.

(b) arts. Change this to some more suitable military
term—e.g. tactics.

He was well acquainted (he said) both with the enemy
and the country, and would shortly make it worth their while, and would
36
employ against their originator those very tactics by which both our
leaders and our armies had up to that time been baffled.

(ii.) Translation.—The finite copula est is, as
often, omitted; the two principal verbs are promissum (est) and
creditum (est) linked by the comparative particles
magis—quam, and the subject is id;
tamquam—essent! is a subordinate clause modifying the two
principal verbs, and expressing contemptuous wonder.

Cf. ‘tamquam clausa sit Asia, sic nihil perfertur ad nos.’

You can now translate

Literally: That was promised not more foolishly than it was
foolishly believed, just as if the arts of a soldier and of a general
were the same.

Here you can make several improvements; avoid the repetition of
foolishly, and use a better term than arts, and perhaps
break up the sentence into two short ones. Thus:—

The folly of the promise was not greater than that of the credit it
received. Just as though the qualities of a soldier and of a general
were the same!

substiterat = had halted. si-st-o is only a form
of sto strengthened by reduplication (cf. ἵστημι) with a causal force. Cf.
restitit, p. 27, sentence iv.

(ii.) Translation.—The principal subject is clearly
ipse; there are two principal verbs, concivit and
pervenit, coupled by ac, and one subordinate clause,
ubi . . . substiterat, introduced by ubi, and
modifying pervenit.

The sense is so clear that you may translate at once into good
English:—

Moreover he himself raised a considerable number of volunteers in the
country during his march; and so, with his numbers nearly doubled, he
reached Lucania, where Hannibal, after his fruitless chase of Claudius,
had halted.

The following version was shown up by a boy of fifteen in a recent
scholarship examination:

‘Hannibal in carrying on his successful campaign met with some
different luck in this district. Marcus Centenius, whose cognomen
was Penula, was famous among the centurions of the first rank for his
huge limbs and great courage. This man, after having accomplished his
years of military training, on being introduced into the Senate by the
Prætor P. Cornelius Sulla, requested the Patricians to give him
5000 soldiers. He said that he was well acquainted both with the enemy’s
tactics and the district round about, and in a short time would
convert the engagement into a prize for the State: moreover, he
added, I will employ the same tactics against the enemy as
those by which our generals and troops have been captured in these
parts. This was faithfully believed as it was faithfully
promised: the tactics of the soldiers and of the commanders were so much
alike! He received 8000 men instead of 5000: half of them were Roman
citizens, half allies: moreover he himself got some volunteers
while on the march in the country districts and so almost doubled his
army: he thus reached the territory of the Lucani, where Hannibal after
a fruitless pursuit after Claudius, had taken up his position.’

This version is neither bad nor good. The style is, on the whole
fair, knowledge of vocabulary very fair, and the rendering generally
accurate. It will, however, be of use
38
to you as an object lesson: so notice carefully the following
points:—

I. Style.

Sentence IV.—

(i.) The Oratio Obliqua of the original he renders partly as Reported
Speech and partly as Oratio Recta. This is, of course, to be avoided.
Contrast the rendering given under Sentence IV.

Demonstration IV.

Livy, xxv. 19.

Read through the Passage carefully.—The context will be
familiar to you, as this piece is a continuation of Demonstration III;
but, none the less, read the passage through very carefully. Notice, for
example, the use of quippe, the various uses and meanings of
ut, alterum . . . alterum, alii alia.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is quite simple,
consisting of one main statement, Haud dubia res est, and an
explanatory subordinate statement of fact introduced by quippe.
Notice that the influence of inter extends over the whole of the
subordinate clause.

Literally: ‘The affair was not doubtful, since, of course, it
was between Hannibal as general and a centurion, and between armies, the
one grown old in victory, the other wholly new, and for the most part
also hurriedly raised and half-armed.’

There are several points in which this rendering must be improved.
Thus:—

(a) Affair for res is too vague. You will
remember what was said about res in Sentence I. of Part I. pp.
33, 34.

42

(b) You must try to express more strongly the contrast in
generalship between Hannibal and a mere centurion. Thus:—

‘Theresultwas not doubtful, considering that the
contest was between a general such as Hannibal and a (mere)
centurion; and between two armies, the one grown old in victory, the
other consisting entirely of raw recruits, and for the most part
undrilled and half-armed.’

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence again is quite simple (in
form very similar to Sentence I.), consisting of one main
statement, extemplo instructae acies, and an introductory
subordinate statement of time introduced by ut =
when.

‘When the armies came in sight of each other, and neither side
declined battle, the ranks were at once drawn up in fighting
order.’

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is not quite so simple and
needs care. Notice—

(a) Pugnatum (est). The Impersonal Pass. serves as the
principal subject and predicate.

(b) ut in nulla pari re.ut is here not a
conjunction but a relative adverb of manner, referring the
assertion pugnatum
43
duas amplius horas to the particular circumstance—i.e.
of a battle fought under very unequal conditions. This use of ut
= considering occurs frequently—e.g.consultissimus vir ut in illa quisquam esse aetate poterat
(Livy). Cf. also p. 124, l. 19.

(c) concitata Romana acie is clearly ablative absolute.
To make quite sure that you understand the logical connection of the
thought conveyed by this sentence, you may consult the detailed analysis
on page 47.

In spite of its being such an unequal match, the battle was
maintained for more than two hours; the Roman army (as well
as [et] the enemy’s) being roused (to great
exertions) so long as their leader survived.

dedecoris = of dis-grace, for de in composition
= separation, and so removal of the fundamental idea. Cf.
un-, dis-, e.g.dis-par =
un-equal.

contractae = brought on, caused. con +
traho = bring about, cause.

(ii.) Translation.—The meaning of this sentence should be
quite plain to you if you notice carefully that

(a) the principal verb is fusa est, and the principal
subject Romana acies, and

(b) that Postquam . . . cecidit is a
subordinate clause of time modifying the action of the principal
verb fusa est.

It would perhaps be well to translate at first literally:—

After that he, not only out of regard for (pro) his old
fame, but also from fear of future disgrace, if he should survive a
disaster brought about by his own rashness, exposing himself to the
weapons of the enemy fell, the Roman army was at once routed.

You will see that this rendering, though verbally correct, is not
English, and must be considerably altered before it can be called a good
translation. Thus:—

44

(a) It is too long. You can remedy this by taking
postquam . . . cecidit as one complete sentence, and
fusa . . . acies as another.

(b) Exposing himself. Better exposed himself to
. . . and. Notice here the strictly accurate use of the
Pres. participle in Latin.

(c) ‘future’ may be omitted, as tautological15 in English.
Cf. our inexact idiom ‘he promised to come’ (Lat. ‘that he
would come’).

At last, both for the sake of his old renown and from the fear of
disgrace should he survive a disaster brought on by his own rashness, he
threw himself among the enemy’s darts and was slain. The Roman army was
routed in a moment. —Church and B.

passim = hither and thither, far and wide,
formed from passus (pando), expand.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence resembles in form Sentence
IV., with one principal verb patuit, and a principal subject
iter, and a subordinate clause of result, ut
. . . absumpti sint, modifying the action of the principal
verb patuit. You may conveniently break up this sentence into
two, by beginning a new sentence with Ceteri. Thus:—

So completely closed against them was every chance of escape, all the
roads being beset by cavalry, that out of so numerous a host hardly a
thousand escaped. The rest perished as they fled, some by one death and
some by another.

Before laying aside these two passages, you should pay attention to
the following points:—

(i.) Vocabulary.—Besides carefully noticing new
words, try to form groups of cognates (i.e. related
words). One of the best ways to enlarge your vocabulary is to group
together words of
45
common origin, and to add to each, where you can, derivative and
cognate English words. To take a few examples from this
passage:—

Word.

Meaning.

English Derivative.

ALIUS

= another (of many).

ali-enus

= that belong to another

alien, alienate.

ali-quot

= some, several

aliquot (parts).

al-ter

= other of two

alter, alternate.

ali-bi

= elsewhere

alibi.

etc.

SENATUS

= the Council of the Elders

Senate.

sen-ex

= old

sen-ior

= older

senior, sire, sir.

sen-ile

= belonging to old people

sen-ile.

sen-ectus

= old age.

etc.

ITER = (i-tiner)

= a going

itin-erant.

amb-it-io

= a going round, canvassing

ambition.

comes (cum + eo)

= a comrade.

a Count (Fr. Comte).

in-it-ium

= a going in, a beginning

initial.

sed-it-io

= a going apart, sedition

sedition.

etc.

(ii.) Useful Phrases for Latin Prose.—You should try
gradually to put together your own phrase-book. You will find this much
more useful to you than any ready-made collection. A good and
simple plan is to have a special note-book for this purpose. Mark in the
text as you read useful phrases, and in your note-book write the Latin
on the right-hand page and a good idiomatic rendering on the left. For
example, from this passage you might collect the following:—

English.

Latin.

A chance of achieving a success.

fortuna bene gerendae rei.

After completing his term of service.

perfunctus militia.

Would make it worth their while.

operae pretium facturum.

Up to that time.

ad id locorum.

The result was not doubtful.

haud dubia res est.

Though the fight was so unequal.

ut in nulla pari re.

Some by one death and some by another.

alii alia peste.

46

(iii.) HANNIBAL.—Read some good short estimate of Hannibal
as a patriot, statesman, and soldier—such as may be found in
Mommsen’s or Ihne’s History of Rome. If you have time, you will
find much to interest you in the Hannibal (‘Heroes of the
Nations’) by O’Connor Morris.

Demonstration V.

Vergil, Georg. ii. 490-499.

Read the Passage carefully.—Notice as you read the many
allusions and key-words in the passage, e.g.Acherontis,
Pana, Silvanum, Nymphas, Dacus ab Istro,
res Romanae, rerum causas, and populi fasces.
These, taken in connection with the main predicates felix,
fortunatus, non flexit, neque doluit, aut
invidit, will readily suggest to you the main thought of the
passage:—

Happy is Nature’s bard who knows and fears not: happy he too who
knows the gods of the country. He is not distressed by ambition, nor
wars, nor pain, nor envy.

(ii.) Translation.— You cannot be in doubt about the
principal subject and predicate. Felix is the only word outside
the subordinate clause from qui . . . avari. The sense,
too, of these lines is clear, so you may translate at once; but you must
take special care to use dignified and appropriate language:—

50

Happy the man who has availed to know the causes of things, and so
trampled under foot all fears and fate’s relentless decree, and the roar
of insatiate Acheron.

Dacus, the Dacians, akin to the Thracians, N. of Danube,
conquered by Trajan. Cf. modern Roumanians.

Histro = the Lower Danube.

51

(ii.) Translation.—You will see there is only one
principal verb, flexit (or flexerunt), with several
principal subjects, fasces, purpura, discordia,
res Romanae, perituraque regna, and no subordinate
clauses. You may therefore translate at once:—

(a) Him fasces of the people or purple of kings sway not,
not maddening discord among treacherous brethren, nor the Dacians
swarming down from the leagued Danube, not the Roman State, or realms
destined to decay;

OR

(b) He is not (1) moved by honours that the people
confer, or the purple of empire, or civil feuds, that make (2)
brothers swerve from brothers’ duty; or the Dacian coming down from
the Hister, his sworn (2) ally; no, nor by the great Roman State
and the death-throes of subject kingdoms.

N.B.—(b) is superior to (a) in—

(1) the use of Passive for Active;

(2) the predicative use of agitans, infidos,
coniurato.

IV.neque ille
Aut doluit miserans inopem, aut invidit habenti.

(i.) Vocabulary.—You will probably know the meanings of the
words in this sentence. Thus the meaning of—

doluit

is suggested by

dolor.

miserans

„„

miser. Cf. miser-able.

inopem

„„

in + ops. Cf. op-ulent.

invidit

„„

invidia. Cf. envy.

(ii.) Translation.—You have here two principal verbs,
doluit, invidit, joined by aut, and a principal
subject ille.

Notice that inopem must be the object of the participle
miserans, and that habenti is used as a noun.

He never felt the pang of pity for the poor, or of envy for the
rich.

Copy of a rendering shown up by a boy of fifteen in a recent
scholarship examination:—

‘Happy is the man who is able to discern the reason of
things, and controls under his feet all changes and inexorable
destiny, and the groaning of greedy Acheron!
|I|
Blessed also is he who knows the rustic gods, Pan and old Silvanus, and
those sisters, the nymphs!
|II|
He is not moved by the people’s
52
axes, nor by the regal purple, nor by discord that rouses
brothers to distrust each other. He is not moved by Dacus,
coming down from the sacred Danube, nor by the affairs of
Rome, and the realms about to perish.
|III|
He neither grieves for nor pities the helpless, nor does he envy
the rich.’
|IV|

The above version is fair, but notice the following
points:—

Sentence I.—

is able . . . and controls. The connection in
thought is not shown: ‘He is happy because he knows and ∴ fears
not.’

groaning—i.e.gemitum; strepitum =
roar, din.

Sentence III.—

by the people’s axes. This suggests quite a wrong idea;
contrast the version, ‘by the honours that the people confer.’

sacred. This is quite wrong. con-iurato = allied by
oath.

the affairs of Rome. A very weak, and inadequate
rendering.

Sentence IV.—

grieves for nor pities. This quite obscures the point. Vergil
says that a country life, with its absence of poverty, so commonly met
with in a town, saves a man from the necessity of feeling a pang of pity
for the poor.

Before you put aside this passage, try to avail yourself of some of
the following suggestions. Thus:—

I. For the Poet Vergil17 (70 B.C.-19 B.C.).—The chief facts of his life and the
subject of his great poems are clearly and shortly given in the
Student’s Companion to Latin Authors (a useful and
convenient book of reference).

II. For the Georgics, Poems on Husbandry. (The passage for
translation is taken from Georgic II. lines 490-499.)
See—

(i.) Student’s Companion to Latin Authors, pp.
157-8.

(ii.) Nettleship’s Vergil, pp. 37-45.

(iii.) Sellar’s Vergil, pp. 174-198.

Notice especially the political purpose of the
Georgics—to help the policy of Augustus, which aimed at
checking the depopulation of the country districts. Compare the alarming
migration from the country to the towns in England at the present
day.

53

III. Relation of Lucretius to the Georgics.

(i.) Sellar’s Vergil, pp. 199-243.

(ii.) Munro’s Lucretius, Notes on Book i. line 78, and Book
iii. line 449.

Notice in this connection the opening lines of the passage, Felix
qui potuit . . . Acherontis avari, which may be summarised
as follows: ‘Happy he who knows the laws of Nature, and has therefore
ceased to fear natural phenomena and has learnt to despise the fabled
terrors of Hades.’ Munro says: ‘I feel that by his Felix qui
Vergil does mean a poet-philosopher, who can only be Lucretius.’

Demonstration VI.

Cicero, Tusc. v. 23. 64.

Read the Passage through carefully.—As you read you will
notice many allusions and key-words, e.g.Archimedes,
ego quaestor, Syracusanis, sepulcrum, etc. These,
taken in connection with the heading and the author, will suggest to you
the main subject of the passage—the finding of the Tomb of
Archimedes by Cicero.

Quaestor (contr. from quaesītor—quaero),
i.e. investigator, originally two main functions:—

(a) The preparation of evidence in public prosecutions (this
about 240 B.C. transferred to the
Tribunes).

(b) Treasurers of State. Of these the Quaestores urbani
stayed at Rome, while the Quaestores provinciales or
militares acted as financial assistants to the Consuls or
Praetors for the provinces.

saeptum = hedged in; saepes = a hedge,
fence.

vepribus = with bramble-bushes.

dumetis = with brushwood.

indagavi = I traced out. A metaphor from hunting.
Cf.

‘Dum trepidant alae, saltusque indagine cingunt.’

Verg. Aen. iv. 121.

‘While the scouts (beaters) are all busy, and are encircling the
coverts with nets.’

(ii.) Translation.—The form of the sentence is quite
simple. The principal verb is indagavi, with subject ego
quaestor, and object sepulcrum. From ignoratum
. . . dumetis describes sepulcrum, and the
subordinate clause cum . . . negarent emphasises
ignoratum a Syracusanis. You may now translate

(a) literally: I, when Quaestor, traced out the tomb of
Archimedes, not known of by the Syracusans, for they said it was not
there at all, hedged in on all sides and covered with brambles and
brushwood.

56

(b) A better rendering: When I was Quaestor I was able to
trace the tomb of Archimedes, overgrown and hedged in with brambles and
brushwood. The Syracusans knew nothing of it, and entirely denied its
existence.

Notice here the improvement made by breaking up the one long sentence
into two.

(ii.) Translation.—This sentence is apparently not quite so
simple, but if you carefully bracket the subordinate clauses you will
see that the only principal verb is animadverti, with subject
ego and object columellam. Notice next that—

You may now translate into your best English, following closely the
thought and the order of the Latin:—

Well, as I was surveying the whole place (there is a large
number of tombs at18 the Agrigentine gate) I perceived a small
column just showing above the undergrowth, on which appeared the figure
of a sphere and a cylinder.

Thus it was that one of the most renowned of Greek cities, and in
ancient times one of the most enlightened, would have remained ignorant
of the monument of the greatest genius it ever produced, if it had not
learnt it from a man born at Arpinum.19

Some Suggestions and Authorities.

Before you leave this passage, try to notice some of the following
points, and if possible consult some of these
authorities:—

(i.) Read (e.g. in Church and Brodribb’s translation) Livy’s
account of the siege of Syracuse by Marcellus, 214-212 B.C., Book xxiv. cap. 34; Book xxv. caps. 23-31.

(ii.) Freeman’s History of Sicily. Notice especially the
admirable plan of Syracuse illustrating the siege by Nicias.

Or Sicily—‘Story of the Nations’ Series.

(iii.) Some good Life of Archimedes. The Encyclopaedia
Britannica supplies a good short life and refers to Cicero’s finding
the Tomb of Archimedes, and to the still extant work of Archimedes on
the Sphere and the Cylinder.

(iv.) For Cicero’s Quaestorship in Sicily, 75 B.C., consult some Life of Cicero, e.g.
Forsyth’s, pp. 38-58, where reference is made to this incident.

(v.) For the Tusculanae Disputationes (conversations between
Cicero and a friend at his Tusculan villa, the subject of which is the
chief essentials of happiness) consult the admirable introduction to the
edition by T. W. Dougan, Camb. Press.

PASSAGESFOR
TRANSLATION AT SIGHT

In the original text, lines were numbered continuously on each page.
For this e-text, verse selections have been renumbered to match the
actual line numbers as cited in the text. Selections from the Hallam
edition of Ovid’s Fasti are numbered from 1 within each
passage.

Line numbers in prose have been retained for completeness, except
that markings of line 1 have been omitted. Since your browser’s line
breaks will not correspond to line breaks in the printed book, words
mentioned in the linenotes have also been underlined.

In the “Miscellaneous Passages” section, which has no linenotes, line
numbers were omitted in all prose and in the shorter verse passages.
Longer verse passages have been renumbered as elsewhere.

817-818 animamque . . . receptos. Brutus, nephew of
T. Superbus, roused Rome to expel the Tarquins and found the
Republic: and thus the fasces (the sign of power) were
recovered (receptos) by the people.—Sidgwick.

Numa Pompilius. ‘The name of Numa is significant, and denotes an
organiser or lawgiver. (For Numa cf. numerus,
nummus, νόμος.) As
Romulus was the founder of the State and of political and military
order, so the legend regards Numa as the founder of the national
religion.’—Ihne.

12 delirare = to be out of her mind. Lit. to make a
crooked furrow in ploughing; de + lira (a furrow).

19 sacrarium = the place for the keeping of holy
things, i.e. the Capitol. The original Sibylline Books were burnt in
the fire on the Capitol, 82 B.C., but
a fresh collection was made by Augustus, and deposited in the temple of
Apollo on the Palatine.

20 quindecimviri (sacris faciundis), i.e. a college of
priests who had charge of the Sibylline Books.

The Sibylline Books. ‘There existed also Etruscan libri
fatales (Books of Fate), and these, together with the
Sibylline Books, were kept in the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter. Nothing
seemed more natural than to suppose that Tarquin, who built that temple,
purchased also the sacred books of the Sibyl.’—Ihne.

3-6 quod ei fuit . . . = lit. which he might very easily have
done with that band (of men) and those forces, so that
. . .

4 Rutulorum. S. of Rome. Turnus their King. Capital,
Ardea.

6 coloniam, i.e. Ostia, the harbour of Rome and chief naval
station.

7-8 non esse opportunissimos, e.g. as exposed to sudden
attacks, and likely to contain a too large foreign element.

12-13 quo redundaret = its own superabundance.

17-18 is tractus ductusque = the plan and
direction.

19 definitus = bounded.

20 arduis praeruptisque montibus. ‘The amphitheatre of seven
hills which encloses the meadows (afterwards the Campus Martius) in the
bend of the Tiber, varying from 120 to 180 feet above the stream,
offered heights sufficiently elevated and abrupt for fortification, yet
without difficulties for the builder or cultivator.’

N.B.—In this passage be careful to translate Cicero’s long,
periodic sentences by two or more separate sentences in English.

The Position of Rome. ‘There was no place better fitted for an
emporium of the Tiber and sea traffic, and for a maritime frontier
fortress than Rome. It combined the advantages of a strong position and
of immediate vicinity to the river.’ Mommsen.

7-8 i.e. to have killed Porsena would have been less glorious than to
display such heroism.—Stephenson.

Porsena. Livy tells us that Mucius, in gratitude for the
magnanimity of Porsena, revealed to him that 300 Roman youths had sworn
to attempt the same deed that he had undertaken. Whereupon Porsena
feared to distress the Romans any longer, and made peace with them.

7 magister equitum, i.e. T. Aebutius. The Master of the Horse,
the second in command, was nominated by the Dictator.

10 veruto = with a javelin, cf. veru = a
spit.

11-12 inter primam curationem = at the first attempt to
dress his wound.—Rawlins.

13 dictator, i.e. Aulus Postumius. The Dictator (magister
populi = master of the army) was appointed by one of the two
Consuls (= colleagues) in a time of national danger to avoid the
possible want of unity between the two consuls in time of war.

15 in primum = in primam aciem.

antesignanis, i.e. the first line fighting in front
of the standards.

17 iuventutis proceres = the young noblemen, i.e. the
cavalry are not only the younger men (in Livy often = iuvenes)
but also patricians.

1 Coriolanus. Gaius Marcius received the cognomen of
Coriolanus for his bravery at the capture of the Volscian town of
Corioli (S.E. of Rome). After this, in a time of famine at Rome, C.
advised that the corn obtained elsewhere should not be distributed,
unless the Plebeians would give up their Tribunes. For this he was
impeached and went into voluntary exile among the Volsci.

consternatus = in strong emotion—lit.
‘stretched on the ground.’

7 potuisti = had you the heart to—question
indicated by tone of the voice.

10-11 non . . . succurrit = did it not occur to
you?

19-20 invidia rei oppressum = overwhelmed by the
unpopularity of his action.

20 alii alio leto, e.g. i. by a voluntary death; ii. put to
death by the Volscians; iii. lived to old age in exile.

Context. To protect their territory from the constant raids of
the Veientines, the noble house of the Fabii offered to undertake the
war themselves. The consul Kaeso Fabius marched out of the city at the
head of his clan, followed by the blessings and good wishes of the
admiring people. He erected a fortified camp near the R. Cremera
(a tributary of the Tiber), and from this spot plundered Veientine
territory.

2-4 qui . . . recuperavit. The Aequian general, Gracchus
Cloelius, had defeated the consul, L. Minucius, and blockaded him
in his camp on Mt. Algidus, the E. spur of the Alban range. Cincinnatus
makes a wonderful night march from Rome of 20 miles, blockades in turn
the investing Aequian force, and compels an unconditional surrender.

1 cum Atticis legibus, i.e. with a copy of the Laws of Solon
(the great Athenian Lawgiver, 594 B.C.).

1-3 Eo intentius . . . fieret, because up to this time the
knowledge of law and its interpretation was confined to the Patricians
(cf. the Scribes of the N.T.). This could only be remedied by writng the
laws down and making them public.

14-15 quid . . . conferrent = ‘Should point out in the
interest of all (lit. should contribute to the public good) any
faults of excess or defect in the several
articles.’—Stephenson.

15-17 ad rumores hominum = in accordance with
(ad) public opinion.

17 centuriatis comitiis. Servius Tullius divided the people
into five classes, according to the value of their property. The people
(Patricians and Plebeians alike) voted by centuries; but as 98 centuries
(and ∴ 98 votes) were allotted to the richest class and only 95 to the
other four classes, the influence of wealth was decisive in the
elections.

Context. Verginius, seeing no way of saving his daughter from
disgrace and dishonour at the hands of Appius Claudius, killed her
before the judgment-seat of the tyrant and before the eyes of the
people.

2 per occasionem = by such a favourable
opportunity.—Rawlins.

3 In contionem = to the rostra (the platform for
speakers).

3-4 Horatius Valeriusque. The first Consuls after the
abolition of the Decemvirate in 449 B.C.

Results of the Secession. ‘The Valerian Laws, by the second of
which it was ordained that in criminal trials, when the life of a
citizen was at stake, the sentence of the Consul should be subject to an
appeal to the people. This Valerian Law of Appeal was the Roman Habeas
Corpus Act.’—Ihne.

5 Tolumni = Lars Tolumnius, King of the Veientos, in alliance
with Fidenae (about 5 miles N.E. of Rome).

quacumque se intendisset = wherever he directed his
charge.

8-11 Hicine . . . manibus dabo. Fidenae had frequently been
colonised by Rome, and had as frequently revolted. When the Romans sent
four ambassadors to Fidenae to demand satisfaction for this last revolt,
the people of Fidenae murdered them. Tolumnius is associated with their
crime.

12 infesta cuspide = with couched lance.

13-14 hasta . . . excepit = with the help of his spear
leapt to the ground. Lit. ‘resting on his spear caught himself on
his feet.’—Stephenson.

15 umbone resupinat = he throws him back with the boss of
his shield.

repetitum = piercing him again and
again.—S.

19 Dictator = Mamercus Aemilius, a man of energy and
ability.

The spolia opima (spoils of honour) were the arms taken on
the field of battle by the victorious from the vanquished general. They
were won on only three occasions:—

i. by Romulus, ii. by Cossus, iii. by Marcellus
(the Conqueror of Syracuse), who in his first consulship, 222 B.C., slew with his own hand Viridomarus,
King of the Insubrian Gauls. Cf. Prop. V. x.

1 tempestivo = seasonable (timely), in view of
the coming struggle with Veii, and the necessity for winter
campaigns.

2 munere. Livy tells us (cap. 60) that the Senate did
not provide the pay as a present, but simply paid punctually
their proper share of the war-tax (tributum) in
accordance with their assessment (cum senatus summa fide ex censu
contulisset).

4 de publico = out of the Public Treasury.

9 fatentibus = while men admitted.—R.

11-12 Cum . . . acquiescere = While the comfortable
thought (commoditas = lit. advantage) pleased
them (namely) that their private property at least was
undisturbed— i.e. that they paid no war-tax while they were in
the field.—Rawlins.

12-13 quo corpus . . . esset = when they were impressed
(devoted to) and actively employed in the public
service.—S. addictus, properly of an insolvent debtor
made over to his creditor = a bondman.

16-17 id . . . gratiam rei in apposition to quod
. . . efflagitatum.

19 tribuni . . . potestate. Military tribunes with consular
power instead of Consuls were elected occasionally from 444 to 367 B.C.

20 Veios. The capture of Veii by Camillus (396 B.C.), in consequence of the introduction of
military pay, was enormously important to Rome.

2-3 iam in partem . . . (alios) deos. Camillus had vowed to
give to Apollo the tenth part of the spoils of Veii.

3-4 alios . . . spectare, i.e. Juno. ‘It was a Roman practice
to invite the patron deity of a place or country to leave it, and to
promise a more honourable worship at Rome.’—Whibley.

5-6 subrutis cunīculo = undermined. Camillus had a
tunnel (cuniculum—rabbit-burrow, cf. cony) cut from
the Roman camp under the wall to the Temple of Juno on the citadel of
Veii.

7 discurrunt = run every man to his post, cf. ad
arma discurritur.

15 tēgulae = tiles, roof-tiles
(tĕgo).

23 senescit = abates, lit. grows old, becomes
exhausted.

Results of the War. ‘By the Conquest of Veii, Rome’s territory,
wealth, and population were largely increased. Rome was now emerging
from the position of a federal capital of the Latins to become the
mistress of a large country, when she was suddenly and unexpectedly
overtaken by a disaster (the Invasion of the Gauls) which
threatened not only her growth but her life.’—Ihne.

16-17 superanti multitudine = i. (the victory) would
be (easy) to him superior (superanti) in
point of numbers, or ii. abl, of cause—as he was so much
superior in numbers.

21-22 Veios, in hostium urbem. An exaggeration as Veii was in
ruins.

22 cum T. arceret = though the Tiber stood in their
way.

The Invasion of the Gauls. ‘The most advanced tribe of the Gauls
were the Senones who had settled on the Adriatic to the E. of Central
Etruria. While the Romans reduced S. Etruria to a state of
subjection, these Gauls suddenly crossed the Apennines, threatened
Clusium, and then marched on Rome. Thus for the first time the Gallic
race was brought to the knowledge of the civilised world. The two
armies met on July 18 at the small R. Allia, only 15 miles from
Rome.’—Ihne.

2-3 simul (= simul ac) . . . auditus = as soon as the shout
was heard, by those nearest on the flank, by the most distant in the
rear.

‘Proximi denotes the Romans on the right wing, who were
the first to be attacked; the Gauls after routing them pressed on to the
rear of the Romans and attacked the centre and left wing (ultimi)
from behind.’—Whibley.

7-8 suomet . . . fugam = as they hindered their own flight
by their struggling with one another in the crush.

11 graves = weighed down with, equivalent to a pass.
partic.

hausere gurgites = the currents sucked
down.—W

15 sub monte, i.e. the Colles Crustumini, which run parallel
to the South bank of the Tiber.

The Battle. ‘The defeat of the Allia was never forgotten by the
Romans. The panic (due to the strange appearance of the barbarians and
their unwonted method of fighting) which alone had caused the defeat,
struck so deep into their minds that for centuries afterwards the name
and the sight of Gauls inspired them with terror.’—Ihne.

4-5 curules magistratus = curule magistracies, i.e. of
Dictator, Censor, Consul, Praetor, Curule Aedile, who possessed the
right of using sellae curules (the ivory chairs of State),
originally an emblem of kingly power.

Context. The Romans on the Capitol, despairing of outside help,
agreed with Brennus that Rome should be redeemed by a ransom of 1000
pounds of gold. Nondum omnni auro appenso, Camillus appeared at
the head of his troops.

3 per altercationem = owing to the dispute. When the
Consular Tribune Sulpicius complained that the Gauls used unjust
weights, Brennus in derision threw his sword into the scale and said
Vae victis!

13-14 nova re = at the change in their
fortunes.—Whibley.

15-16 haud maiore momento = with no greater difficulty
(effort).

17 Iustiore altero proelio = in a second and more regular
engagement.— W.

58 hac lege = on this condition, i.e. that Rome should
always be the capital.

nimium pii = too dutiful to their mother-city
Troy.

58-60 ne . . . reparare Troiae. There was a rumour, even in
Caesar’s time (v. Suet. Iul. Caes. 79) that he meant to
migrate to Alexandria or Ilium. Horace, prob. with the sanction of
Augustus, sets himself to discourage it. Cf. the Speech of Camillus,
Livy, v. 51-54.

61-62 Troiae . . . iterabitur = the fortunes of Troy, if
with evil omen it is called to life again (renascens),
shall be repeated in an overthrow as sad as
before.—Wickham.

‘The Burning of Rome by the Gauls involved the destruction of all the
existing records, and great loss of property. Yet in spite of all the
damage done, the Romans set to work to establish the state anew, to
rebuild the City, and to reassert their commanding position among their
allies and neighbours.’—Ihne.

The Speech of Camillus. Its object was to show the growth of Rome
under the guidance of Providence. Cf. the purpose of the
Aeneid.

1 Occasio. This, so Livy tells us, was the jealousy between
the Fabian sisters, the one married to the patrician Sulpicius, the
other to the plebeian Licinius Stolo.

1-2 propter . . . alieni. The old Roman law of debt was very
harsh and severe.

3 in summo imperio, i.e. the Consulate.

4 accingendum . . . esse = they must brace themselves to
the execution of that idea.—R. accingendum, reflexive
here.

5 iam eo, i.e. to the office of Consular Tribune, created 444
B.C.

6 si porro annitantur = if theynowmake a
further effort. This use of Pres. Subj. in Or. Obl. frequent in
Livy.

7 tam honore quam virtute = in official rank as
(they were already) in merit.—Rawlins.

12-14 ut deducto . . . persolveretur = ‘after deducting
from the amount of the loan (capite = principal)
what had been paid in interest, the balance should be paid in three
equal instalments.’—Cluer and Matheson.

15 de modo agrorum = relating to the limitation of
land-holding.

16-17 tribunorum militum (sc. cum consulari potestate)
created 444 B.C., but no plebeian
obtained that honour till 400 B.C.,
and only two after that date.

17 utique = one at any rate.

Result. ‘The principle was established that Patricians and
Plebeians were both citizens of the State, and equally eligible to the
honours and dignities of the Republic.’—Ihne.

1 L. Manlio, i.e. L. Manlius Capitolinus Imperiosus, appointed
Dictator 363 B.C. ‘to drive in a nail
(clavi figendi causa) on the right side of the Temple of Jupiter,
to mark the number of the year, because written documents were rare in
those times.’

2 diem dixit = named a day (for his trial before the
Comitia).

4-6 quod Titum filium . . . iussisset. Livy, vii. 4, says ‘And
for what offence? Because he was a little slow of speech and not ready
with his tongue.’

4 Torquatus, Dictator 353 and 349 B.C., and three times Consul.

6 negotium exhiberi patri = lit. that trouble was being
brought upon his father, i.e. that his father was in
trouble.

2 longinquitate . . . temporum = the distance of the
theatre of war (regionum) and the length of the
campaign (temporum).—Rawlins.

6-7 quanta rerum moles = What stupendous
exertions!—R.

8 in hanc magnitudinem, i.e. in the reign of Augustus.

10 cum societate, i.e. from 354 B.C.

12 Sidicinis, a Sabellian people N.W. of Campania, on the
Samnite border.

16 fluentes (luxu) = enervated (lit. relaxed) by
luxury.

21 Tifāta (neut. Plur.), a mountain range N.E. of Capua.

22-23 quadrato agmine = in regular order of battle, so
that the whole army formed a parallelogram.

The Cause of the War. ‘The interference of Rome was a breach of
the Treaty with the Samnites. Livy admits this, but asserts that Capua
had formally surrendered to Rome, and as a subject state claimed her
protection. The story is confessedly false, for Capua remained, what it
had always been, an independent town.’—R.

The Battle of Mt. Gaurus. The battle was fought on the volcanic
range of mountains between Cumae and Neapolis. The Consul in command,
M. Valerius, obtained the surname of Corvus (Raven), because when
serving as a military Tribune under Camillus in 349 B.C., he defeated the Gallic champion by the aid of
a raven. See next page, A. l. 4.

3-4 an consurgendi . . . esset. Livy says ‘The Triarii were
posted crouching by the standards, their left leg extended forwards,
holding their shields resting on their shoulders, and their spears fixed
in the ground with the points erect, so that their line bristled as if
enclosed by a rampart.’

6 Accensos. The Accensi (ad + censeo),
originally supernumeraries to take the place of those who fell in
battle, = levis armatura.

ante signa, i.e. of the Hastati and Principes.

8 excitaverunt = surgere
iusserunt.—Weissenborn.

10 hebetassent = had blunted.

18 antepilanis = prop. both the Hastati and Principes
who were drawn up before the Pilani or Triarii who formed the third
line.

19 principia = the front line, now the Triarii of the
Latins.

22 cuneos = columns (lit. wedges), i.e.
a body of soldiers drawn up in the shape of a wedge. Livy uses it
of the phalanx.

The Cause of the War. The war was almost a civil one. The dispute
was chiefly about a right to share in the privileges of the full Roman
citizenship (espec. the right to vote and to hold office).

Result of the War. Rome broke up the Latin Confederation by
making separate treaties with the Latin towns, and by prohibiting
commercial intercourse between them.

2 Dictator = L. Papirius Cursor, noted for the strictness of
his military discipline. At this time he had gone to Rome to take the
auspices anew (ad auspicium repetendum) and had given strict
orders to his Master of the Horse, Q. Fabius Rullianus, to avoid
all collision with the enemy during his absence.

13-14 seu credere . . . factum = lit. or whether one prefer
to credit the authority of Fabius that it was done on this account
(eo) . . . Fabius Pictor, the earliest Roman
historian, wrote in Greek and served in the 2nd Punic War.

15 ibi (sc. hostilia arma) = on them. These, set
up as a trophy with the victor’s name inscribed, would have been borne
in the triumphal procession.

The Cause of the War. The actual casus belli was a dispute
between Rome and the Samnites for the possession of Palaeopolis (=
old city) near Neapolis (= new city). Cf. the First Punic
War, 241 B.C., due to the struggle for
the possession of Messana, and the war with Pyrrhus, 281 B.C., for the possession of Tarentum.

1-10 intueri; contemplari . . . = There they are looking
one on another. . . . By a string of infinitives the
picture of a series of actions is put before the reader without the
actions being thought of singly.—Lee Warner.

2 obnoxia = at the mercy of . . .—Rawlins.

6 per sociorum urbes, e.g. Capua.

11 fatalis ignominiae = destined for their
disgrace.

12 experiundo = by experience; praeceperant =
they had anticipated.

16 seminudi = with only their tunics on.

17 gradu = in rank.

18 traducti, ‘always used in this sense of disgraceful
exhibition or parade.’—Stephenson.

22-23 ipsa lux . . . fuit = the very light was to them as
they gazed on so hideous a line of march more gloomy than any form of
death.

The Caudine Forks. Other writers state that the Romans were
entrapped only after a severe defeat.

‘By the side of those names (the Allia and Cannae) there was yet a third
in the list of evil days—the name of the Caudine
Pass.’—Ihne. Cf. p. 82, B.

4 pacem . . . fecerant, i.e. a military convention, by
which Rome and Samnium were to acknowledge each other as free peoples
with equal rights and privileges, and Rome was to give up her conquests
and colonies on Samnite territory.

5 iniussu . . . senatusque. ‘The Senate considered it in the
light of a sponsio, a convention made on personal responsibility,
rather than a pactio or foedus, a public
treaty.’—Holden.

6 tribuni plebis, prob. only tribunes-elect (=
designati), for the tribunes could not leave Rome even for one
night.

11 C. Mancinus commanded against Numantia in Spain, 137 B.C.

15 Q. Pompeius commanded against Numantia, 140 B.C.

16 cum in eadem causa esset = though he was in the same
case, as Mancinus, i.e. had made a degrading peace with the
Numantines.—H.

15-17 quo . . . deprecante . . . non est = through his
begging to be let off, the law (i.e. for delivering him up to the
enemy) was not passed.

17 Hic = in this case, i.e. that of Pompeius.

18 apud superiores, i.e. Veturius, Postumius, and
Mancinus.

18-19 utilitatis species falsa = the false semblance of
expediency.

The Repudiation of the Treaty. ‘It is clear that Postumius and
his brother officers could not bind the Roman Senate and people by the
promise they had made in Caudium; but it is equally clear that they were
bound by their promise to do what was in their power to cause the treaty
to be ratified.’—Ihne.

21 occidione occisi. This has the force of a superlative by
the repetition, a common idiom in Oriental† languages.—S.

† E.g. in Hebrew, Delivering I will deliver = I will surely deliver.

Results of the Second Samnite War. Roman influence became supreme
in Campania and Apulia, and the Samnites were confined to their own
mountains. In 304 B.C. the Romans
renewed their ancient Treaty with the Samnites (as Livy tells us) by
which they were left in possession of their independence.

Why the Romans conquered. (1) Their conduct of the war was more
systematic. (2) By their plan of fortified colonies (e.g. Cales,
Fregellae, Luceria) they retained their hold on the conquered territory.
(3) The diplomatic skill of the Senate secured the friendship of the
neighbours of the Samnites (e.g. the Apulians and Lucanians).

1 Decius. P. Decius Mus, Consul with Q. Fabius Maximus
Rullianus, commanded the left wing at the Battle of Sentinum, where he
was opposed to the Gauls, and when his troops began to give way before
the Gaulish chariots (essedae) he, like his father at the Battle
of Vesuvius, 340 B.C., devoted*
himself with the hostile army ‘to the gods of earth and of the
grave.’

5 proceres iuventutis = the flower of the young
men.

8 avertere (= se avertere) = to retire (lit.
turn away).

10 essedis = war-chariots, on two wheels, open in
front, but closed behind, and drawn by two horses; used also by the
Britons.

14 lymphaticus = mad, frenzied.

16 turbata . . . signa legionum = the ranks of the legions
were thrown into disorder. Signa is frequently used of
military movement, as the most noticeable feature in an army.

* Cf. pp. 92, 93.

The Cause of the Third Samnite War. The democratic party among
the Lucanians made overtures to the Samnites. The Romans peremptorily
ordered the Samnites not to interfere in Lucania, an arrogant command
which the Samnites declined to obey, and war broke out anew.

Results of the War. After an obstinate struggle peace was
concluded in 290 B.C., the Samnites
retaining their independence.

7-9 patruo suo Alexandro . . . fuerant. Alexander of Epirus
had almost succeeded in uniting the whole of Magna Graecia (332-326
B.C.) when he was cut off by the hand
of an assassin.

9 magno Alexandro. Pyrrhus was acknowledged to be the first
general of the school of Alexander, and Hannibal (so Plutarch tells us)
considered him the greatest military genius.

18 inusitata ante . . . forma = the unfamiliar
appearance of.

22-23 magna pars militum. Pyrrhus is said to have lost 4000
men, ‘a serious matter to him in a foreign country, where he could
not easily replace the loss of his tried old warriors.’—Ihne.

Cause of the War. By 282 B.C.
Rome had taken possession of Magna Graecia, with the exception of
Tarentum. In 282 B.C. (in defiance of
the treaty of 301 B.C.) a Roman fleet
appeared before the Harbour of Tarentum. A naval battle ensued in
which the Tarentines were victorious, and the war began.

11-13 sed magnum . . . superatum = but it would have been a
lasting disgrace and scandal for a general, with whom the struggle lay
for glory, to have been overcome by an act of wickedness and not by
valour.—H.

1 Appi Claudi. This was the Appius Claudius whose Censorship,
312 B.C., was famous for his great
public works, the Via Appia, the great South road of Rome, and
the Aqua Appia, an aqueduct which brought water to Rome a
distance of eight miles; and also for his measure (corre­sponding to
a Parliamentary Reform Bill) admitting freedmen as full citizens by
enrolling them in Tribes.

2-9 tamen is . . . exstat oratio. When the Senate was about to
yield to the persuasive eloquence of Cineas, the envoy of Pyrrhus, he
had himself led into the Senate-house to make the speech which turned
the scale against the invader.

11-12 Lucaniae . . . campis. The Battle was fought near
Beneventum (orig. Male-ventum, perhaps from male +
ventus on account of its unwholesome air) in Samnium on the Via
Appia, E. of Capua.

15-16 unum ex his . . . avertit = the heavy stroke of a
weapon driven home (adacti) into the head of a young
elephant (pullum) made it turn aside.

19 gravi mole = with her unwieldy bulk.

The Battle of Beneventum. Pyrrhus, in his attempt to storm the
entrenched camp of Curius Dentatus, was obliged to fight on unfavourable
ground. The result was a total defeat, and no choice was left him but to
give up the unequal contest.

1-4 Repulsus ab Spartanis . . . occiditur. At the invitation
of Cleonymus, who had been excluded from the throne of Sparta, Pyrrhus
undertook and failed in a desperate attack on the city. He then turned
against Argos, to wrest it from Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, and was
hit by a tile thrown from a roof by a woman.* As he lay helpless
on the ground he was recognised and murdered.

8 Satis constans fama = a tolerably unanimous
opinion.

12 iustitiae probatioris = of more eminent (lit.
tested) justice.

14 Lysimachum, one of Alexander’s generals. About 286 B.C. King of Macedonia and Asia Minor.

Demetrium, surnamed Poliorcetes (stormer of
cities), son of Antigonus, King of Asia (one of Alexander’s
generals).

16-17 Siculorum bellis. During the years 280-276 B.C. Pyrrhus made himself master of all Sicily with
the exception of the Carthaginian stronghold of Lilybaeum.

* Cf. the death of Abimelech before Thebez, Judges ix. 53.

Character of Pyrrhus. ‘He was not only one of the ablest generals
and princes, but amiable also as a man, and worthy of our sympathy and
respect.’—Ihne.

Why he failed. ‘From lack of accurate information he wholly
underestimated the power of Rome. Here was the great error in his
calculation, an error for which he can hardly be held
responsible.’—Ihne.

Subject. ‘Septimius, my dear friend who would accompany me to the
ends of the earth, let me spend the close of my life at Tibur (Tivoli),
or if not there, then at Tarentum. Let us go there together, and live
there till I die.’—Wickham.

171-172 After Actium, 31 B.C.,
Augustus spent more than a year in reducing and settling the East
(imbellem Indum) whose forces had been wielded by
Antony.—Sidgwick.

173 Saturnia tellus, in allusion to Saturn’s reign in Latium
in the age of gold.

174-175 tibi res . . . fontes = for thee I enter on themes
of ancient glory and skill (i.e. in agriculture) and dare to
unseal (recludere) the sacred springs; res
laudis, the theme of the Aeneid, res artis, of the
Georgics.

176 Ascraeum carmen = the song of Ascra, i.e. the
Georgics, because Hesiod (author of Works and Days to
which Vergil is much indebted) was born at Ascra, near Helicon, in
Boeotia.—S.

4 corvos = crows (the κόρακες of Polybius), boarding-bridges. A broad
movable ladder, fastened to the foremast, and held in position by a
rope. When the rope was let go, the iron hook at the upper end of the
ladder penetrated the deck of an enemy’s ship.

15 Iunius. L. J. Pullus, consul 249 B.C. His fleet was destroyed by a storm off Pachynus
(C. Passaro) the same year.

Parallel Passage. Florus ii. 2 says that ‘Claudius was
overthrown, not by the enemy, but by the gods themselves, whose auspices
he had despised.’

The Defeat off Drepana. ‘The reason of the defeat lay in the
superiority of the Carthaginian admiral and seamen, and the inexperience
of Claudius and of his crews, consisting mainly of landsmen who knew
nothing of the sea. This disaster and the destruction of the fleet of
Junius crowned the series of misfortunes which befell the Romans in the
year 249 B.C., the most dismal time of
the whole war.’—Ihne.

3 Hannibale duce. Polybius called the war of which Hannibal
was the life and soul the ‘Hannibalian War.’

6 his ipsis, sc. Romanis Poenisque, with
validiores.

6-7 virium aut roboris = offensive or defensive
strength.—R.

8 expertas = tested, in a passive sense.

9 ut propius . . . vicerunt, e.g. after Cannae, 216 B.C.

12 ultro inferrent arma = should presume to
attack.—Dimsdale.

13 Poenis, sc. indignantibus.

superbe avareque. ‘When the war of the mercenaries broke
out in Africa (241-238 B.C.) Rome
availed herself of the distress of Carthage to extort the cession of
Sardinia, and raised the war indemnity by 1200 talents.’—Ihne.

Importance of the War. ‘It was a struggle for existence, for
supremacy or destruction. It was to decide whether the Graeco-Roman
civilisation of the West or the Semitic (Carthaginian) civilisation of
the East was to be established in Europe, and to determine its history
for all future time.’—Ihne.

‘Bitterly as the Romans hated, reviled, and persecuted Carthage, the
most deadly poison of their hatred they poured upon Hannibal; they did
not hesitate to blacken his memory by the most revolting
accusations.’—Ihne.

11-12 nec quicquam . . . pati = they allowed those engaged
on the works no sort of safety, lit. not (even) moderate
safety.—D.

18 adversum femur = in the front of the thigh.

SAGUNTUM (Murviedro = muri veteres) in Hispania Tarraconensis
(about 20 miles S. of Valencia) was supposed to have been founded by
Greek colonists from Zacynthos (Zante). In 226 B.C. Rome made an alliance with Saguntum and
Hasdrubal was informed of the fact. Hannibal attacked the city
ostensibly on the ground of its having molested subject-allies of
Carthage, but really because he was unwilling to leave a strong city in
his rear, and wished to obtain funds. After an eight months’ siege and a
heroic defence, characteristic of Spanish towns, it was taken by storm
219 B.C.

7 parte superiore . . . pontis = fastened to the upper part
of the bank, i.e. to the bank at a point higher up
stream.—D.

9 per solum = on firm ground.

14 ab actuariis = by some light craft, lit. ‘Easily
moved’ (ago).

17-18 donec . . . agerentur = So long as they were being
driven on what seemed a bridge connected with the land.—C. and
B. Agebantur would be more usual, but agerentur may give
the reason of nihil trepidabant. Cf. donec—fecisset
ll. 21-22.

The Speeches of Livy. ‘He does not intend in them to reproduce
the substance of words actually spoken, or even to imitate the tone of
the time in which the speech is laid. He uses them as a vivid and
dramatic method of portraying character and motive.’—Mackail.

Context. At a short distance from the summit of the Pass (prob.
the Little St. Bernard) Hannibal finds his passage barred by a break in
the road, caused by a landslip or avalanche.

2-3 in pedum . . . abruptus erat. Polybius says that the
precipice at the side of the road (leaving only a narrow ledge) extended
for about 1000 ft. in length. Livy in mistake converts this into
1000 ft. in depth.

3-4 Tandem . . . fatigatis, i.e. after H.’s attempt to pass by
a side-way over a glacier failed.

4 in iugo, i.e. on the higher level where the road was broken
away.

6 ad rupem muniendam = to cut a way through the rock.
Munire (cf. moenia) = lit. ‘to wall,’ ‘to build.’ So
munire viam = to make a road. Hannibal widened the narrow
ledge of road by making a sort of terrace.

1 Flaminius (Gaius), the chief of the popular party at Rome.
Consul 223 B.C., conquered the
Insubrian Gauls, Censor 220 B.C.
Connected Picenum with Rome by the Via Flaminia. Consul (a second
time) 217 B.C., defeated and killed at
Trasimene.

2 inexplorato = without reconnoitring. ‘This word
expresses the whole blame attaching to Flaminius, and it is
great.’—Dimsdale.

The Scene of the Battle. At the N.W. end of the Lake the
mountains of Cortona come right down to the lake, but a little further
E. the pass expands and forms between the mountains and the lake a
narrow plain from ½ to 1½ miles in width and about 4 miles in length. At
the E. end of the plain the mountains again close down upon the lake.
Here Hannibal encamped with his Africans and Spaniards; posted his
light-armed troops behind the crests of the hills which bounded the
plain on the N., and his cavalry at the entrance to the pass on the W.
to cut off the Roman retreat.

10 pugnantium . . . haerebant = rushed upon a knot
(globo) of combatants, and became entangled with
it.—Jebb.

14 a fronte, i.e. by Hannibal’s African and Spanish
infantry.

ab tergo, i.e. by Hannibal’s cavalry and the Gauls.

18-19 non illa . . . triarios = not in that well-known
(illa) mode of fighting (sc. pugna) arranged
according to. . . . Livy refers to the old mode of
formation (said to have been introduced by Camillus) of i.
hastati, of young men, ii. principes, of men at
their prime, iii. triarii, of middle-aged men.

Character of Flaminius. ‘The party feelings which have so
coloured the language of the ancient writers (e.g. Livy, Polybius)
respecting him need not be shared by a modern historian. Flaminius was
indeed an unequal antagonist to Hannibal; but, in his previous life, as
Consul and as Censor, he had served his country well; and if the defile
of Trasimene witnessed his rashness, it also contains his honourable
grave.’ Arnold, Hist. Rome, iii. 110.

12-14 Flaminius, when tribune 232 B.C., by a vote of the Comitia Tributa (i.e. by a
plebiscitum) and against the expressed wish of the Senate
(contra senatus auctoritatem) carried an agrarian law for the
division of public land in Picenum amongst Roman citizens.

18 laudatio, sc. funebris, the funeral speech.

19-20 in luce . . . civium = in public and under the gaze
of his fellow-countrymen.—J. S. R.

Context. Fabius’ policy of ‘masterly inactivity’ had become so
unpopular at Rome that the command of the army was divided between
Fabius and Minucius, who risked a battle, and was only saved from a
destruction as complete as that of the Trebia by the timely aid of
Fabius. Minucius publicly and fully atones for his rashness.

14 patronos = as the authors of your freedom.
Patronus = legal title used by a freed slave (libertus) of
his former master. The soldiers of Minucius are to think of themselves
as liberti, owing their freedom to those of Fabius, who are thus
their patroni.

17 ut colligantur vasa, i.e. impedimenta. Cf. signa
movere.

Fabius Cunctator. ‘Fabius had to create a new army, to accustom
it to war, and to inspire it with courage. He did this skilfully and
persistently, and thus he rendered the most essential service that any
general could at that time render to the State. It was probably at this
time that the Senate voted him a crown of grass (corona
graminea), the highest distinction which was awarded to a general
who had saved a besieged town.’—Ihne.

1 Sub . . . certaminis, i.e. at the close of
(sub) the first stage in the battle, in which the Roman cavalry
were defeated.

2-3 constabant . . . Hispanisque. These formed Hannibal’s
centre, the convex of his semicircular formation of his infantry,
with the African troops on the horns of the semicircle to the right and
left, but at some distance behind.

4 obliqua fronte, perh. = concave, so as to surround
the projecting part of the enemy’s line (a cetera
prominentem acie).

5 cuneum: here = the convex formation of the Gauls and
Spaniards.

8-9 in mediam aciem = the centre of the line, i.e. of
the Gauls and Spaniards, who were intended to engage with the Romans
first.

10 subsidia = reserves, i.e. the Africans, on the right
and left.

14-16 Afri circa . . . alas. Hannibal’s formation is now
reversed.* The horns (cornua) of the semicircle (the Africans)
are now advanced, and outflanked (circumdedere alas) the
Romans, who rushed heedlessly into the intervening space (in
medium, i.e. the concave part of H.’s line formed by the
retirement of the Gauls and Spaniards).

21-22 recentibus ac vegetis = fresh in body and
mind.

* i.e. the Africans now formed the horns of a crescent in
relation to their centre, while it formed the concave part of the
crescent.—D.

Results of the Battle. Hannibal becomes master of Magna Graecia,
and the Romans lose (including 23,000 taken prisoners) about 70,000
men.

14 praeceptorum. His self-sacrifice was not in vain. The
tactics of Fabius were again adopted after his death.

15 et vixisse adhuc et mori = died as he had ever
lived.—D.

17 reus iterum e consulatu = a second time to stand on my
defence in consequence of my consulship, i.e. on a charge that grew
out of his acts as Consul (219 B.C.)
with M. Livius Salinator of misappropriation of the spoils at the
close of the Illyrian War.

18-19 ut . . . protegam. The two Consuls had the chief command
of the army on alternate days. Varro was in command at Cannae.

‘The overthrow of Cannae was so complete that every other nation but the
Romans would have given up the idea of further
resistance.’—Ihne.

2 Campaniam Tarentumque, once the two most fertile districts
in Italy.

4 Capuam . . . fuisse. Ihne says: ‘Whatever may have been the
pleasures and indulgences of Hannibal’s troops in Capua, their military
qualities cannot have suffered by them, as the subsequent history of the
war sufficiently demonstrates.’

7-8 tepentes fontibus Baiae, on a small bay west of Naples and
opposite Puteoli, abounded in warm mineral springs.

10 sociorum Latini nominis = sociorumacLatini nominis, which includes all the Italian allies. ‘The
Nomen Latinum were the members of the old Latin league whose
rights were reduced in 338 B.C. after
the Latin War.’—Rawlins.

Context.The plebs in Nola (as in Capua) was in favour of joining
Hannibal, and it was with difficulty that the nobles (who here, as
elsewhere, favoured Rome) delayed the decision, thus gaining time to
inform Marcellus, who was then stationed at Casilinum, of the danger of
a revolt. Marcellus immediately hastened to Nola, and occupied the town
with a strong garrison.

3-5 Hannibali . . . primo miraculo esse = Hannibal, who
. . . had his troops under arms till a late hour, was first of
all astonished that.—Church and Brodribb.

7 colloquia esse, i.e. his communications
(colloquia) with the Carthaginian party in Nola.

8 resĭdes = inactive, lit. that remains sitting
(re + sedeo).

10 si cunctantibus instaret = if he met hesitation with
prompt action.—Church and Brodribb. Lit. if he pressed upon
those hesitating.

12 in sua . . . ministeria = to their several
posts.

19-21 Ingens . . . gesta est = a great victory, the
greatest, perhaps throughout the war, was achieved that day.

Nola, an important town in Campania, S.E. of Capua. It remained
faithful to the Romans, even after Cannae, when the other Campanian
towns revolted to Hannibal.

Marcellus at Nola. ‘It was the merit of Marcellus that he saved
Nola from being taken.’—Ihne.

5-6 prope . . . inclusos, a special feature of Syracuse,
because many ancient cities were built at some distance from the sea,
with a harbour detached from them (e.g. Ostia, the port of Rome), though
sometimes joined by long walls, as at Athens.

7 in exitu = at their outlet, i.e. the narrow channel
between Ortygia (= Insula) and the mainland which connected the two
harbours.

9 disiuncta = separated from the rest
(dis—).

12 Insula, i.e. Ortygia, the only part now inhabited.

14 Hieronis regis, King of Syracuse, 270-216 B.C., distinguished by his military ability and the
wise policy of his reign. From 263 B.C. till his death, the faithful friend and ally of
Rome.

16 Achradina, the mainland N. of Ortygia. At the time of the
famous siege of Syracuse by the Athenians, 415-413 B.C., the city consisted only of Ortygia and
Achradina.

18 prytaneum = town-hall (πρυτανεῖον = the presidents’ hall).

25 theatrum est maximum, capable of holding 25,000 people. Of
all the buildings described by Cicero as existing in Neapolis, the
Theatre alone remains.

10 quo interiores . . . essent = so as to be too close in
to be hit by (intertores ictibus) the engines.

10-12 in eas (sc. proras) iniecta = on their
bows was dropped . . .

11 tollenone = from a swing beam, supported at the
centre of gravity by a strong fixed fulcrum.

12-13 cum (ferrea manus) gravique . . . ad solum = lit.
when (the grappling-iron) swung back
(recelleret) to the ground by a heavyweight of lead. ‘This
is incorrect; it was not the grappling-iron, but the other
(inland) end of the lever which was brought down to the
ground.’—Rawlins.

16 ita undae affligebat = was dashed with such violence on
the disturbed water (undae).

Cause of the War. Soon after the death of Hiero in 216 B.C., his whole family was murdered, and the
supreme power in Syracuse fell into the hands of the two brothers,
Hippocrates and Epicydes, Hannibal’s agents.

8 tyranni, i.e. absolute rulers, despots, with
reference rather to the irregular way in which the power was
gained, than the way in which it was exercised.

16 qui . . . fuerant, i.e. Syracusan deserters who kept up
communication with the republican (pro-Roman) party in Syracuse.

22formis = diagrams.

24 sepulturae. Cf. Demonstration VI, page 54.

The Treatment of Syracuse. It would have been the undying glory
of Marcellus if, on obtaining possession, he had shielded the unhappy
city from further miseries. The art-treasures of Syracuse were sent to
Rome, a prece­dent afterwards followed.

Context. Marcellus was Consul for a fifth time in 208 B.C. After the attempt to retake Locri (S.E. of
Bruttium) was frustrated by Hannibal, Marcellus and his colleague
Crispinus faced H. near Venusia in Apulia. Hannibal hoped to bring on a
decisive action, but Marcellus adopted Fabian tactics, and himself
headed a cavalry reconnaissance to explore the country between the Roman
and the Carthaginian camps.

2-3 Numidis speculator. A wooded hill lay between the two
camps: H. had posted here in ambush some Numidian horsemen.

4-5 si quos possent excipere = on the chance of their being
able to intercept.—Stephenson.

6-8 Non ante . . . circumiere = those who were to spring on
the enemy (lit. those to whom it was necessary to rise in a mass
confronting the enemyobviis) from the hill itself did not
show themselves until a detachment had made their way round
(circumiere).—S.

10 valle = a hollow, i.e. a depression on the Roman
side of the hill.

16 Fregellani. Fregellae, a town of the Volsci, on the Via
Latina between Rome and Campania, colonised 328 B.C.

17 ipsique ex parte pugnando = taking their share in
fighting. S.

Character of Marcellus. ‘He was a brave soldier, a firm intrepid
patriot, and an unflinching enemy of the enemies of Rome, but as a
general no match for Hannibal.’—Ihne.

2-3 in ostentationem earum compositus = he made a study
(compositus) of displaying them, implying
artificiality.—R.

3-5 pleraque . . . agens = in most of his dealings
(pleraque agens) with the mob (representing his
plans) as inspired (visa) by visions in the night
or as matters of inspiration (divinitus mente monita).

7 sorte = by an oracular response (which was often
written on a little tablet or lot, sors).

11 aedem, i.e. the cella (chapel, the part
enclosed within the four side-walls) of the Temple of Jupiter
Capitolinus.

19 tantam rerum molem = so stupendous a task.—R.
In 212 or 211 B.C. the two brothers,
Publius and Gnaeus Scipio, were totally defeated by Hasdrubal and fell
at the head of their troops. Scipio, son of this P. Scipio, was in
210 B.C. sent to Spain, at the age of
27, as proconsul in command of a reinforcement of 11,000 men.

Character of Scipio. ‘He was a man far above the average of his
contemporaries, and possessed a greatness of mind which could not fail
to rivet attention. He differed from the majority of generals by not
only daring to conceive bold plans, but by contriving to carry them
out.’—Ihne.

3 vadis pervagatos stagnum = made their way through the
pool by wading (vadis).

8 contractum = concentrated (confined).

13 ancipitem = double, twofold, on two
opposite sides.

15 intus forisque = both within and without.

foris, adv. (an abl. form from an obsolete nom.
fora) = out of doors, without. Cf. foras =
out through the doors, forth.

16-17 caedendo . . . distractis foribus = when the doors
were destroyed and broken up by blows.

Carthago Nova (Carthagena) was founded by Hasdrubal (the uncle of
Hannibal) 243 B.C. The city is
situated on a promontory running out into the sea, and possesses one of
the finest harbours in the world, protected by an island as by a natural
breakwater. But it had a weak side, and this had been betrayed by
fishermen to Scipio. During ebb-tide the water of the shallow pool W. of
the town fell so much that it was fordable and the bottom was firm. Of
this Scipio took advantage. He first made a feint attack on the N. wall
and then led 500 men across the ford, who scaled the W. wall and opened
the nearest gate from the inside.

Result of its Capture. ‘New Carthage, the key of Spain, the basis
of operations against Italy, and the Carthaginian arsenal, was taken,
thus determining the issue of the Spanish War.’—Ihne.

Context. Nero, on hearing from the captured Numidian horsemen of
Hasdrubal’s march and plans—to meet Hannibal in Umbria and then to
march on Narnia and Rome—with 6000 picked foot and 1000 horse
withdrew secretly from his camp before Hannibal at Canusium, and by a
forced march joined his colleague Livius at the Metaurus.

1-2 Larinatem, etc., districts lying between Apulia and
Umbria, but not given in their geographical order.

15 faustum (for favostus, fav-eo) = that which
is done under the blessing of the gods: felix = that which
succeeds in consequence of having this blessing upon
it.—Stephenson.

44 equitavit = galloped, careered, used of
Hannibal, and, by zeugma, with flamma and Eurus.

46-47 impio tumultu = by the sacrilegious invasion (or
riot, outrage), possibly with reference to Livy’s story
(xxvi. 11) of the plundering of the Temple of Feronia.

48 rectos = upright, i.e. of the images supposed to
have been thrown down by Hannibal, and not set on their pedestals
again.

Results of the Battle. ‘The war in Italy
was to all appearances finished, and it was on the Metaurus that the
Romans conquered Spain.’—Ihne. When Hannibal recognised the head
of his brother Hasdrubal, he foresaw the doom of Carthage:—

Context. Scipio (204 B.C.)
landed in Africa and won such decisive victories over the Carthaginians
under Hasdrubal, the son of Gisco, that ii was necessary in 203 B.C. to recall both Mago and Hannibal.

3-4 ad Magonem. Mago, H.’s youngest brother, had in 205 B.C. been despatched from Carthage with
considerable reinforcements for H. He took Genoa, again roused the
Gauls against Rome, and in 203 B.C.
fought an indecisive action with the Romans. Mago was severely wounded,
and died at sea before he reached Africa.

13 Hanno, the leader of the aristocratic (peace) party at
Carthage, and the persistent opponent of Hamilcar Barca and his
sons.

Hannibal’s Speech. ll. 6-15. This is purely imaginary and
illustrates the bitter hatred of the Romans for H. They alleged
that H. was personally responsible for the war, and that he undertook it
for selfish and party ends. Also that Carthage, unable to prevent the
war, withheld supplies and reinforcements. Ihne says ‘The whole course
of the war is a sufficient refutation of these charges.’

7-10 Roma an Carthago . . . praemium fore. ‘By the victory of
Zama it was decided that the states of the ancient world should be
welded into one great empire, and that this empire should be founded by
Rome and not by Carthage.’—Ihne.

The Battle of Zama. ‘Here, too, the elephants proved disastrous
to their own side. Some ran down the spaces between the Roman maniples
(see C 39,
B. note), and were of no further use; while others, driven aside by
the Roman skirmishers, threw H.’s Carthaginian cavalry into such
disorder that they were unable to resist the attack of Scipio’s horse.
The first Roman line threw H.’s mercenaries back upon their reserves of
the second line, and in the confusion that ensued Scipio advanced with
his second and third lines. The combat raged long and fiercely until
Scipio’s Roman and Numidian cavalry, returning from their pursuit of
H.’s horse, fell upon the enemy’s rear and decided the
battle.’—Ihne.

Scipio’s order of battle. Instead of drawing up his manipuli like
the black squares of a chessboard—the usual order, so that, in
advancing, the manipuli of the three lines could form one unbroken
line—he placed them one behind the other, like the rounds of a
ladder, so as to leave spaces in the lines, through which the elephants
might pass without trampling down or throwing into confusion the
infantry battalions, e.g.:

Context. Philip V, King of Macedon, had made a treaty with
Hannibal in 215 B.C., and provoked the
first Macedonian War (214-205 B.C.) by
an attack on Apollonia in Illyria, and the capture of the port of Oricum
in Epirus. The Romans now resolved to make Philip suffer for the trouble
he had caused them by interfering in the war with Hannibal.
A casus belli was soon found in the Athenian Embassy to Rome
(201 B.C.) asking for help against
Philip.

3-4 unus . . . militum. Ihne says ‘He seized the favourable
opportunity to shape the battle which had begun without plan into a
brilliant victory for Rome.’

5 signorum (= manipulorum) = companies, i.e.
with some 3500 men.

13 loco premebantur = they (i.e. the phalanx)
began to feel the disadvantage of position.—Rawlins.

16 in medio caesi = cut down from both
sides.—R.

Cynoscephalae (Dog’s Heads), a low chain of hills between
Pherae and Scotussa in Thessaly.

Results of the Battle. ‘The Romans lost only 700 men. That was
the price paid for a victory which laid the Monarchy of Alexander the
Great in the dust.’—Ihne.

Terms of Peace, 196 B.C.
Macedonia to remain an independent state, but, like Carthage, to lose
all her foreign possessions, and to be sunk to the level of a vassal
state.

19-24 Esse aliquam . . . ingentis: in these words the Greeks
express their astonishment and gratitude at the greatness of the boon
conferred upon them.

The Freedom of Greece. ‘The Greeks believed with a childlike
simplicity that the Romans really cared for their freedom, and that they
had crossed the sea with no other object than to deliver Greece from a
foreign yoke. . . . Flamininus was a skilful diplomatist,
and particularly qualified to sift and settle the affairs of Greece; for
he understood the Greek character, and was not inaccessible, like so
many other Romans, to Greek views and opinions.’—Ihne.

Context. In 192 B.C.
Antiochus the Great, king of Syria, accepted the invitation of the
Aetolians, who, since the Peace of 196 B.C., had been snubbed by the Romans, to come to
liberate Greece from the tyranny of Rome.

Context. In 190 B.C. Lucius
Scipio was appointed to carry the war into Asia. Scipio Africanus, who
accompanied his brother as Chief of Staff, fell ill at Elaea, the port
of Pergamum. His place was taken by Cn. Domitius, an experienced
officer.

14-15 Et iam toto cesserat mari, as the result of the decisive
defeat, in 190 B.C., of the Syrian
fleet off Myonnesus.

15-16 Maeandrum . . . ponuntur. The battle was fought near
Magnesia (N.W. of Lydia) at the foot of Mt. Sipylus.

Parallel Passage. Livy, xxxvii. 39-44, ‘The Battle of
Magnesia decided the fate of the Syrian Empire, as the battles of
Zama and Cynoscephalae had decided the fate of Carthage
and Macedonia.’—Ihne.

Context. After Zama Hannibal held the highest office
(Suffete = L. praetura) at Carthage, and effected useful
democratic reforms. However, his political enemies denounced him to Rome
as making plans for a new war, and in 195 B.C. he was forced to flee from Carthage and took
refuge with Antiochus. After Magnesia, H. found for seven years a safe
asylum with Prusias, king of Bithynia; but the Romans could not be at
ease so long as H. lived, and Flamininus the Liberator of Greece
undertook the inglorious quest of demanding the surrender of
Hannibal.

18 Philopoemen, the heroic chief of the Achaean League, was
taken prisoner by Dinocrates, imprisoned in a dungeon at Messene (in
carcere, l. 19), and compelled to drink poison.

20-23 Scipio was accused, at the instigation of Cato, by the
tribune Naevius (185 B.C.) of having
been bribed by Antiochus to procure for him favourable conditions of
peace. Too proud to defend himself against such a charge, Scipio retired
to his country-seat at Liternum, where by a voluntary act he
consigned both himself and his grave to exile (voluntarium
. . . indixit).

1 Censor, 184 B.C., with
L. Valerius Flaccus, his great friend and patron, by whom he was
introduced to political life.

3 in edictum. The Censors, on their entrance upon office,
issued a proclamation or edict, setting forth the
principles upon which they intended to act. Cato set forth in his edict
that he intended to use his power for the suppression of luxury.

12 magnus imperator, e.g. in the 2nd Punic War, and the
decisive victory at Thermopylae (191 B.C.) was mainly due to Cato.

probabilis orator = a tolerable, acceptable
orator. Oscar Browning.

17-21 His two great works were his treatise De Re Rustica (or
De Agri Cultura), the earliest extant work in Latin prose, and
his Origines, or accounts of the rise and growth of the Italian
nation, the earliest history in Latin prose. ‘It was Cato’s great merit
that he asserted the rights of his native language for literary prose
composition.’—Ihne.

Cato the Censor. ‘He deserves our highest respect for the defiant
and manly spirit that animated him in his untiring contest with the
vices of the age.’—Ihne.

Argument. ‘Our palaces and fish-ponds and ornamental gardens are
supplanting the cultivation of corn and vines and olives. This is not
the spirit of Romulus or of Cato. Their rule was private thrift,
public magnificence; private houses of turf, public buildings and
temples of hewn stone.’—W.

Context. Perseus, son of Philip, became King of Macedonia on the
death of his father in 179 B.C. He did
all he could to prepare for the inevitable struggle with Rome by
strengthening Macedonia, posing as the Liberator of Greece, and forming
marriage alliances with Seleucus of Syria (the successor of Antiochus),
and Prusias of Bithynia. In 174 B.C.,
the Romans were informed that Perseus was secretly negotiating with
Carthage, and after fruitless embassies war was declared. The Senate,
after three years of unsuccessful warfare (171-168 B.C.), appointed L. Aemilius Paulus (son of the
hero who died at Cannae) to the supreme command in Macedonia.

4 caetratos = Targeteers, armed with the small
round shield.

5-7 A tergo . . . habebat (sc. legio prima) =
the (first) Legion thus took the Targeteers in the
rear, while it faced towards the Shieldmen.—Rawlins.

6 clipeatos = Shieldmen, armed with the large
round shield.

7 chalcaspides = Brazen Shields, Right Division of
phalanx.

9 leucaspidem = White Shields, Left Division of
phalanx.

10 in dextrum cornu (sc. Romanum), i.e. nearest to the
sea.

13-15 commenta . . . oportet = lit. the contrivances of
men, though in theory (in verbis) they had some
importance (vim) yet upon trial (experiendo)
when there is need of action and not of discussion
(edisseri) how to act. . . .

17 commenta Macedonum. Perh. with reference to Perseus’
contrivances (e.g. by the use of dummy elephants) to prepare his
men and horses to make a stand against real elephants.

1 In medio . . . immissa = On the centre the second legion
charged (immissa), i.e. into the interstices of the phalanx,
which was not preserving its usual close order.—Rawlins.

4-6 fluctuantem . . . vires sunt = first demoralised the
phalanx so as to make it waver, (fluctuantem), and then
shattered it. Its (aggressive) force, so long as it keeps
close order and bristles with couched (intentis) spears,
is irresistible (intolerabiles).

6 carptim aggrediendo = by repeated harassing
attacks.

10 ruinae modo = in hopeless confusion.—R.

17 classe. The Roman fleet under Octavius was co-operating
with the army.

Results of the Battle. Perseus was captured, and his kingdom was
divided into four independent parts. The Macedonian phalanx had fought
its last great battle.

Character of Paulus. ‘He was a model of the Roman of the best
time. He was not, like his contemporary Cato, a onesided worshipper
of everything old; but he was a Conservative in the best sense of the
word, anxious to preserve old institutions, but at the same time to
improve them.’—Ihne.

Context. An Embassy was sent from Rome in 157 B.C. to inquire into the affairs of Africa. Among
its members was M. Porcius Cato, who, astonished and alarmed at the
flourishing condition of Carthage, returned to Rome with the firm
conviction that Carthage must be destroyed—delenda est
Carthago. A pretext was soon found in the war (151 B.C.) between Carthage and Masinissa, King of
Numidia, the ally of Rome. Though the Carthaginians surrendered all
their arms and munitions of war, Rome declared that they would have to
leave their city and settle ten miles from the sea. The Carthaginians
resolved to die rather than give up the sacred soil of their
country.

5 profligato = almost finished.

6 in alium Scipionem, i.e. P. Corn. Scipio Aemilianus
Africanus Minor, the younger son of Aemilius Paulus (of Pydna) and
adopted by P. Scipio, the son of the conqueror of Hannibal.

12 alterum portum, i.e. they pierced the narrow strip of land
separating the round naval port (Cothon) from the sea.

18 deploratis = was looked upon as lost, lit. wept
for bitterly.

20 duce Hasdrubale: ‘Hasdrubal seems to have deserved the name
of the last Carthaginian in the best sense of the word, as a
representative of the intensity of the strength, endurance, and
patriotism of his race.’—Ihne.

‘The plough was drawn over the site of destroyed Carthage, and a solemn
curse was pronounced against anyone who should ever undertake to build a
new town on that spot.’—Ihne.

Context. In 149 B.C. an
adventurer named Andriscus claimed to be Philip, the son of Perseus, and
mastered Macedonia and part of Thessaly. He totally defeated the praetor
Juventius, but in 148 B.C. his army
was routed and himself taken prisoner by Q. Caecilius Metellus. The
Romans, no longer needing the help of Greek troops, determined to
break up the Achaean League. A last desperate struggle for freedom
ensued, but the Greeks were easily defeated (146 B.C.) by L. Mummius on the Isthmus, and Corinth
itself was plundered and destroyed.

2-3 quam . . . condita. Aletes, son of Hippotes and a
descendant of Heracles, is said to have taken possession of Corinth by
the help of the oracle of Zeus at Dodona, and therefore named the city
Διὸς Κόρινθος.

10 Panaetium, a native of Rhodes and a celebrated Stoic
philosopher, settled in Rome, where he became the intimate friend of
Laelius and Scipio Africanus Minor.

13 dispunxit = he devoted, gave up (lit. marked
off).

19 locaret = he hired (lit. place out, i.e.
give out on contract).

conducentibus = to the contractors.

The Destruction of Corinth. ‘The flames which consumed Miletus
(destroyed by the Persians 494 B.C.)
and Athens (burnt by Xerxes 480 B.C.)
were the signal for the great rising of the people, the dawn of a
magnificent day of Greek splendour: after the fall of Corinth came the
long dark night.’—Ihne.

Macedonia made a Roman Province. Greece placed under the control of
the Roman governor of Macedonia.

Context. After the defeat of Perseus (168 B.C.) and before the outbreak of the third Punic War
(149 B.C.) a suitable opportunity
seemed to present itself to Rome for continuing the interrupted conquest
of Spain; but ‘for eight long years Viriathus, although a barbarian and
of humble origin, defied the armies of Rome, and thereby secured for
himself a position in history almost equal to that of Hannibal and
Mithridates.’ Ihne.

1 cum Lusitanis. The Lusitani (S. of the R. Tagus =
mod. Portugal, and part of Estremadura and Toledo) were not finally
subdued till after the capture of Numantia by Scipio in 133 B.C.

13 Fabius Maximus consul, i.e. Quintus Fabius Maximus
Servilianus, who allowed himself to be decoyed into an ambush 141 B.C., and was compelled to grant an
honourable peace, which Rome soon found a pretext for breaking.

The War with Viriathus. ‘It was sad and disgraceful for the Roman
arms, but in a far higher degree for Roman morals. It sowed, moreover,
the seeds of the Numantine War, in which both the warlike ability and
the moral virtues of the Roman nation appear more deteriorated than even
in the war with Viriathus.’—Ihne.

Context. In 143 B.C. the
Celtiberians (of Middle Spain), encouraged by the successes of the
Lusitanians, took up arms once more. Their most important town was
Numantia, situated near the sources of the R. Durius (Douro),
strongly fortified by nature and by art. Consul after consul failed to
take it, until in 134 B.C. Scipio
Africanus Minor, the conqueror of Carthage, was sent out to Spain to
reduce the stubborn city.

2-3 Sic redacto . . . a Scipione. ‘Scipio’s first task, when
he arrived in Spain, was to accustom the army which he found there, once
more to Roman discipline. Luxury and indulgence were rife, and
cowardice—the most unroman of all vices—had begun to creep
in.’—Ihne.

7 lorica = a breastwork, serving as a screen.
Usu. = a cuirass.

11 sedit = was decided on, lit. settled.

16 Macte = a blessing on or hail to thee.
Mactus prob. from √μακ, e.g. in μάκ-αρ = blessed, but cf. mag-nus.

18 Asseruit = it protected. assero (ad +
sero) = lit. join-to.

Destruction of Numantia. Scipio, of his own accord, razed the
town to the ground, and received the added surname of
Numantinus.

57-60 ‘The idea of this stanza is that their very calamities only
gave them fresh heart and vigour. They rise like the Phoenix from its
pyre.’—W.

58 frondis with feraci. Cf. fertilis frugum.

59-60 ab ipso . . . ferro = from the very edge of the steel
itself, the holm-oak (= the Roman stock) draws fresh power
and spirit.

61-62 Cf. the saying of Pyrrhus, recorded by Floras i. 18,
‘I see that I was born under the constellation of Hercules, since
so many heads of enemies, that were cut off, arise upon me afresh out of
their own blood, as if from the Lernaean serpent.’

63-64 i.e. of the armed warriors which sprang from the dragon’s teeth
sown by Jason at Colchis or by Cadmus at Thebes.

63 submisere = produced, raised.

64 Echioniae Thebae. Echion was one of the five survivors of
the Σπαρτοί (sown men).
He helped Cadmus to found Thebes.

3-4 paucorum scelera . . . coepere. (i) Tib. Gracchus by his
Agrarian Law tried to counteract the selfish land-grabbing of the ruling
class (in excess of the 500 iugera limit of the Licinian Laws,
367 B.C.). (ii) C. Gracchus
exposed the corrupt Senatorian Courts, transferred their judicial power
to the Equites, and carried the Sempronian Law, ‘one of the cornerstones
of individual liberty.’

5 per socios . . . Latinum, by working on Roman jealousy
against the Italians, for whom equality was claimed.

6 spes societatis, i.e. the hope of sharing with the nobility
in office, and in provincial appointments.

10 triumvirum c. d., one of the three Commissioners for
establishing Colonies of Roman citizens on the ager publicus.

The aim of the Gracchi. ‘Their object was to reduce the excessive
power of the nobility, and to make the sovereignty of the people, which
had become merely nominal, a reality.’—Ihne.

Their political mistake. ‘Their error consisted in the belief
that such a change was possible by returning to the simple forms of the
old Comitia. They overlooked the necessity of remodelling the Roman
people itself by giving the popular assemblies a form which would in
reality make them represent the people.’—Ihne.

20 doctus a puero.Cornelia mater
gracchorum (inscribed upon her statue erected by the Roman
people), the daughter of the Conqueror of Zama, was mainly responsible
for their training and education; so Cic. Brut. 104 Fuit Tib.
Gracchus diligentia matris a puero doctus et Graecis literis
eruditus. ‘From her they had received that sensitive nature and that
sympathy with the weak and suffering, which animated their political
action.’—Ihne.

2 Bocchus, King of Mauretania, and father-in-law of Jugurtha,
coveted the West of Numidia, and was ready to accept it either from the
Romans or from Jugurtha, as the price of his alliance.

Sullam, appointed Quaestor 107 B.C. by Marius, who superseded Metellus in the
conduct of the Jugurthine War.

9 quae scilicet . . . patefecisse, i.e. the external signs of
his irresolution,—the calling and then dismissing his people
(adhibitis . . . remotis, ll. 6, 7), and the
changes of his countenance (voltu . . . varius, ll.
8, 9). Scilicet is here used with the Infinitive
patefecisse, the verbal sense of the word (= scire +
licet) being prominent.

10 accersi (= arcessiri), frequent in Sallust.

16 necessariis (necesse) = friends. Cf. ἀναγκαῖοι (ἀνάγκη).

19 Iugurtha Sullae . . . traditur. Sulla is said to have been
so proud of this stratagem that he had the scene engraved upon a
signet-ring, an act of vainglory which estranged Marius from him.
(Plutarch, Sulla, 3.)

Jugurtha. ‘Having resisted the whole power of the great Republic
for six years, having kept his ground against the best generals of the
time, against a Metellus, a Marius, and a Sulla, he was deluded by
treacherous promises of peace and betrayed by his own ally and
father-in-law.’—Ihne.

‘By the great victories of Aquae Sextiae and of Vercellae (over the
Cimbri, 101 B.C.), the movement of the
German races southward was for the present stopped. Rome was saved, and
the saviour of Rome was Marius, the champion of the
people.’—Ihne.

The Sullanian Proscriptions. Sulla was not like Marius swayed by
feelings of revenge alone. His main object was the public good, which in
his conviction was to be realised by a return to the older institutions
of the republic. This he believed could be accomplished only by the
utter annihilation of his opponents. The Proscriptions were not however
intended to be an encouragement to indiscriminate murder, but rather a
barrier against the rage of over-zealous partisans.

3-4 Drusus. ‘Generous and free from all selfishness and
meanness, but without political experience, adroitness and knowledge of
men, he aspired to a task which surpassed his strength.’—Ihne.

4-6 By the Sempronian Laws of C. Gracchus 123 B.C.exclusive judicial rights had been given to
the Equites, as a counterpoise to the power of the Senate. The
corruption of the Equites (as Judices) was flagrant, and Drusus proposed
to transfer the judicial functions to a mixed body of 300 Senators and
300 Knights, the selected Knights to be included in the now attenuated
ranks of the Senate.

14 ad dandam civitatem Italiae. The claims of the Italians to
the franchise were just and pressing, but the overbearing pride and
self-sufficiency of the Roman citizens proved too strong.

5 lege, i.e. the Lex Plautia Papiria of the tribines
M. Plautius Silvanus and C. Papirius Carbo. The Lex Julia of
L. Julius Caesar 90 B.C.,
granting the civitas to the Latins and to all the other Italian
States not in rebellion, had weakened the resistance. The Lex Plautia
Papiria ‘scattered among the Italian ranks the seeds of discord and
dissolution.’

1-2 familia . . . exstincta. The Cornelii were a distinguished
gens in early times and included 7 patrician families (e.g. the
Lentuli and Scipios). Of these the Sullae were the least known.

2-3 litteris Graecis . . . eruditus. Contrast the proud boast
of Marius:—‘I have learnt no Greek: in the knowledge, however,
which is far the most important for the State, I am a
master.’—Sall. Jug. 85.

9 ante civilem victoriam, i.e. before 81 B.C.

10-11 fortior an felicior. Sulla assumed the name Felix on the
death of the younger Marius 82 B.C.
Cf. Plut. Sulla, cap. vi.

19 de augendo regno. He subdued all the coast districts of the
Euxine, East, North and West, as far as the Hister (Danube).

22 avocationibus = in diversions (very rare).

24 exercitum. At the outbreak of the War with Rome, 88 B.C., he had collected a motley force of
250,000 foot and 40,000 horse.

Mithridates. ‘With one blow he overthrew the Roman dominion in
Asia, carried the war into Europe, united almost the whole Eastern world
in an attack on the Republic, and resisted for 25 years the first
generals of his time,—a Sulla, a Lucullus, and a
Pompeius.’—Ihne.

23 turbaverunt. ‘The war-chariots on this as on other
occasions (e.g. at Magnesia) had not only proved a failure, but had
actually led to a partial disaster.’—Ihne. Cf. use of war
elephants, e.g. at Beneventum 275 B.C.
and at Zama 202 B.C.

27 victoriam. It was a great victory, but the results were
trifling, partly because Sulla had no fleet, and partly because his
political enemies at Rome were bent on crippling him.

16-22 The terms of peace were (i) Restoration of all
conquests, (ii) Surrender of 80 ships and of all prisoners, (iii)
Indemnity of 3000 talents. Florus says ‘Non fregit ea res Ponticos, sed
incendit.’ Sulla was anxious to secure peace, because his presence was
needed at Rome.

Sulla’s Conduct of the War. ‘No previous general had shown so
great a mastery of the art of war and such care and interest for the
welfare of the State, as distinguished from the success of a
party.’—Ihne.

6 Pontius Telesinus, ‘a kinsman in name and temper of the hero
of 321 B.C.’

12-14 quae . . . castra. ‘As Hannibal had tried to relieve the
closely pressed Capua by a direct attack on Rome, Pontius Telesinus
thought to draw off the besieging army from Praeneste by threatening the
Capital.’—Ihne.

20 Romana acies respiravit. Sulla, with the left wing, was
driven back by the Samnites to the walls of Rome, but Crassus with the
right wing was completely victorious, and to him the final victory was
due.

‘The issue of the whole war, at least on Italian ground, was decided by
the battle of the Colline Gate.’—Ihne.

5-8 imperio quo . . . usus est. ‘The Dictator of the first age
of the Republic down to the Punic Wars had always a well-defined
special duty to discharge in a given time. Sulla’s task was of a
general nature and all-comprehensive range, and he had the most
essential of all monarchical attributes, which is the unlimited
duration of office.’—Ihne.

13 Granius, the chief magistrate of Puteoli, had kept back
money destined for the building of the new temple of Jupiter
Capitolinus. The old one was destroyed by fire 83 B.C. ‘It was Sulla’s great desire that his name
should be recorded on the front of the new temple, for it was to be the
symbol of the Republic, restored as he fondly hoped by him to its
pristine purity.’—Ihne.

Leges Corneliae. ‘Sulla’s legislation was an attempt to revive
what was dead and gone. The time had arrived when the old republican
institutions could last no longer. The transformation of the state into
a monarchy was inevitable.’—Ihne.

The Sultan Constitution. It had as little endurance as that of
Cromwell, and was finally destroyed in 70 B.C. during the consulship of Pompeius and
Crassus.

18 nisi . . . agris, i.e. Sulla’s confiscations of estates,
especially of those Italians who had fought against him.

24-25 ad p. R. circumveniundum = for oppressing
(enslaving) the people of Rome.

M. Aemillus Lepidus, Consul 78 B.C., a disappointed Optimate, jealous of Sulla’s
power, but without Sulla’s ability. He posed as leader of the democratic
party, took up arms against the State, but was defeated by
Q. Catulus at the Milvian Bridge, 77 B.C.

23-25 ‘Sertorius did not disdain to turn to account the superstition
of the ruder Spanish tribes, and to have his plans of war brought to him
as commands of Diana by the white fawn of the goddess.’—M.

Character of Sertorius. ‘He was the only democratic (Marian)
officer who knew how to prepare and to conduct war, and the only
democratic statesman who opposed the furious doings of his party with
statesmanlike energy. His Spanish soldiers called him the new Hannibal,
and not merely because he had, like that hero, lost an eye in war. He in
reality reminds us of the great Phoenician by his equally cunning and
courageous strategy, and by the quickness of his ingenuity in turning to
good account his victories and averting the consequences of his
defeats.’—M.

9-10 ad Mithridatem . . . iuvit. In 75 B.C. he concluded a formal treaty of alliance with
Mithridates, and sent him the propraetor M. Marius to lead his
troops. Cf. alliance between Hannibal and Philip.

14-15 Diu et ancipiti semper acie pugnatum est, e.g. the
defeat of Pompey near Lauro. (For a graphic account of the strategy by
which the battle was won see Frontinus, Strat. ii. 5.)

17 M. Perpenna praetorius (= ex-praetor), with the
remnant of the army of Lepidus (defeated by Pompey in 77 B.C.) joined Sertorius in Spain. After serving under
Sertorius for some years, through jealousy, he brought about his
leader’s assassination.

21 auctoravit = he brought about. More usu. as
auctorari = to hire oneself out for some service, e.g. of
gladiators.

The Death of Sertorius. ‘So ended one of the greatest men that
Rome had hitherto produced—a man who under more fortunate
circumstances would perhaps have become the regenerator of his
country.’—M.

3-5 quibus temporibus . . . urbanis = all this was
divorced (caruit, lit. was cut off from) from the
business of the capital, at the season when he might have had a
specially brilliant career in the forum.—J. S. Reid.

6 paternas inimicitias = his father’s quarrel. The
first appearance of Lucullus in public life was as the accuser of the
Augur Servilius who had procured the banishment of his father.

7-9 in Asiam . . . praefuit, i.e. as Sulla’s quaestor in the
first Mithridatic War, 88-84 B.C. and
then till 80 B.C. in charge of the
province of Asia (= orig. Kingdom of Pergamus, N.W. part of Asia
Minor).

11 legis praemio = owing to a privilege conveyed by
statute. J. S. R.

13-14 ad Mithridaticum bellum, i.e. the 3rd M. War, which he
carried on for eight years (74-66 B.C.) with great success, until superseded by
Pompeius in 66 B.C.

Subject. Horace says ‘I am like Lucullus’ soldier—when his
pocket was empty he would volunteer for forlorn hopes; when it was full
again he would do so no more. It was poverty that made me write
verses.’—W.

40 Chlamydes. The Chlamys was the light short mantle of the
Greeks, here wanted for a pageant on the stage.

44 tolleret. The subj. is the praetor or person giving the
show.—W.

Reference. For the magnificence of his Villas at Tusculum
and near Neapolis, see Cicero De Fin. ii. § 107, De Leg.
iii. § 30, Pliny, N. H. ix. 170.

1 Spartacus, by birth a Thracian, who had served among the
Thracian auxiliaries in the Roman army, had deserted and become a chief
of banditti. He was taken prisoner and sold to a trainer of
gladiators.

Crixus, Oenomaus, the slave-names of two
Celts.

1-2 effracto ludo = broke out of the gladiators’
school.

8 vitineis vinculis = by means of ropes made of
vine-branches.

9 inviso = unknown, lit. unseen.

13 ergastulorum = from the slaves’ work-houses.

17 mirmillonem. The Mirmillones were a class of gladiators
usually matched with the Thraces or the retiarii
(net-fighters).

18 Marcus Crassus, the Triumvir of 60 B.C.

asseruit = maintained. Cf. our assert.

21 in Siciliam, where the slaves had risen in 133 and 104
B.C., and only waited an impulse to
break out a third time.

25 sine missione = without quarter. Cf. missio =
the discharge from service of soldiers and gladiators.

7-11 urbemque . . . liberavit. The city of Cyzicus stood on
the S. side of the island of the same name in the Propontis (Sea of
Marmora), close to the shore of Mȳsia, to which it was joined by two
bridges.

12-14 classem . . . depressam, i.e. probably the Battle of
Tenedos 73 B.C., in which Marcus
Marius and the ablest of the Roman emigrants met their death, and the
whole Aegean fleet of Mithridates was annihilated.

15 multis proeliis, e.g. of Cabira, 72 B.C.; Tigranocerta, 69 B.C.

18 Sinopen.Sinope, on the W. headland of the great bay
of which the delta of the R. Halys forms the E. headland, was the
birthplace and residence (domicilia) of M.

10-12 Testis est Italia . . . liberatam. In 83 B.C. Pompeius, aged twenty-four, raised three
legions in Picenum, gained several advantages over the Marian generals,
and was saluted by Sulla as Imperator.

12-14 testis est Sicilia . . . explicavit. In 82 B.C. Pompeius, sent as propraetor to Sicily, quickly
took possession of the island for Sulla.

14-16 testis est Africa . . . redundavit. In 81 B.C. Pompeius defeated at Utica the Marian
Ahenobarbus (allied with Hiarbas of Numidia), and was, though a
simple Roman eques, granted a triumph by Sulla and saluted as
Magnus.

16-18 testis est Gallia . . . patefactum est. In 77 B.C., on his way to Spain as proconsul
against Sertorius, he had to cut his way through the Transalpine Gauls,
and laid out a new and shorter road over the Cottian Alps.

21 servili bello. On his return from Spain he cut to pieces
the scattered remnants of the army of Spartacus.

21-23 ab hoc . . . imminutum est. Cic. assumes that the enemy
was crippled even by the mere notion of sending for Pompeius.

14 cessantibusque copiis = and when the troops delayed
their coming. Caesar did not then know that Antonius had himself
been attacked at Brundisium by a Pompeian fleet, and had shown great
skill in baffling it, and forcing it to put to sea again. Once more
Antonius set sail with 4 legions and 800 horsemen, and fortunately a
strong S. wind carried him safely to the port of Lissus (N. of
Dyrrachium).

21-22 Cum . . . hostia: if the victim even tugged at the rope
when being led to sacrifice, it was considered unfortunate, and hence a
long slack rope was used. Cf. Juv. xii. 5 Sed procul extensum
petulans (butting) quatit hostia funem.

24 According to Frontinus his words were ‘Teneo te, terra
mater.’

The man Caesar. ‘We may picture him as a man the dignity of whose
bodily presence was in due proportion to the greatness of his mental
powers.’—Warde Fowler.

1 Composita seditione civili, i.e. after the abortive attempt
of Lepidus to make himself master of the state 77 B.C.

C. Dolabellam, impeached for illegal extortion during
his government of Macedonia.

Repetundarum (sc. pecuniarum), post-Aug. for
de repetundis (pecuniis), used i. of money extorted by an
official and to be returned, ii. of money extorted as a bribe. Caesar
lost his case, but succeeded in showing that Sulla’s senatorial judges
were corrupt.

4 Apollonio Moloni, the famous rhetorician, whose pupil Cicero
was both at Rome and at Rhodes. Very possibly Caesar took this step by
the advice of Cicero.

11 pecunias . . . Velleius says that Caesar’s ransom was paid
out of public funds.

14 e vestigio (= statim) = immediately.

Caesar at Rhodes. ‘Caesar, from what we know of his taste and
character, could hardly have found the same delight as Cicero in his
studies at Rhodes. He nevertheless became one of the greatest orators of
his day, and according to some accounts, second only to Cicero. It is
characteristic of Caesar, but unfortunate for us, that he never took any
pains to collect and preserve his speeches.’—Warde Fowler.

Leges Semproniae, a code of laws passed by
C. Sempronius Gracchus, 123 B.C.
One of these declared it to be the sole right of the people to decide
capital cases.

22-24 O graviter desiderata . . . potestas! Sulla (Dictator
82-79 B.C.) took from the tribunes
the right of proposing laws, and left them only their original
right of Intercessio or veto. In 70 B.C. Pompeius, who had formally accepted the
democratic programme, gave back to the tribunes the power to initiate
legislation.

The Orationes In Verrem. Cicero, as patronus of the Sicilians,
undertook the prosecution of the Senator C. Verres for his gross
misconduct as governor of Sicily, 73-71 B.C.

3-5 Qui cum consul . . . servasset. Pompeius, consul with
Crassus in 71-70 B.C., thought it
beneath his dignity to accept a consular province, and waited in Rome as
a simple citizen until an opportunity should be offered him to play an
extraordinary part.

5 A. Gabinius, a client of Pompeius, a man ruined in finances
and character, but a dexterous negotiator, a bold orator, and a
brave soldier. In 57 B.C. did
excellent service as proconsul of Syria.

6-9 ut cum belli more . . . diripuissent. ‘For twenty years
the sea had been rendered unsafe by these curses of human society.’ The
commerce of the whole Mediterranean was in their power.

13-15 sed tamen . . . decretum erat. In 74 B.C. M. Antonius, son of the orator and father
of the triumvir, was entrusted by the Senate with the task of clearing
the seas from the corsairs. In spite of his extensive powers, the utter
incapacity of Antonius, and the mismanagement of the Senate, caused the
expedition to end in failure and disgrace.

Result. ‘The Gabinio-Manilian proposals terminated the struggle
between the senate and the popular party, which the Sempronian laws
(133-123 B.C.) had begun. As the
Sempronian laws first constituted the revolutionary party into a
political opposition, the Gabinio-Manilian first converted it
from an opposition into a government.’—M.

4 tanti belli impetus, fig. for an attacking fleet of such
force, which from its size would ordinarily sail
slowly.—Wilkins.

5-8 Qui . . . munivit. Early in the year (nondum tempestivo
ad navigandum) Pompeius cleared of pirates the Sicilian, African,
and Sardinian waters, so re-establish the supply of grain from these
provinces to Italy.

14-18 undequagesimo . . . dediderunt. The bold Cilician
seakings alone ventured to face the Roman fleet in the offing of
Coracesium (at the W. frontier of Cilicia), but were completely
defeated. Forty-nine days (undequinquagesimo) after Pompeius had
appeared in the Eastern seas, Cilicia was subdued, and the war at an
end. ‘In all about 1300 piratical vessels are said to have been
destroyed: besides which the richly filled arsenals and magazines of the
buccaneers were burnt. Of the pirates, about 10,000 perished
(interfecti); upwards of 20,000 fell alive (partim
capti—partim se dediderunt) into the hands of the
victor.’—M.

22 ineunte vere . . . confecit. ‘In the summer of 67 B.C., three months after the beginning of
the campaign, commerce resumed its wonted course, and instead of the
former famine abundance prevailed in Italy.’—M.

This was the first trial of rule centralised in a single hand,
and Pompeius fully justified the confidence that was placed in him.

Context. In 66 B.C. Lucullus,
of whom Mommsen says ‘hardly any other Roman general accomplished so
much with so trifling means,’ was superseded by Pompeius. By the Lex
Manilia Pompeius obtained, in addition to the extensive powers conferred
upon him by the Lex Gabinia 67 B.C.,
the military administration of Asia as far as Armenia. ‘Never since Rome
stood had such power been united in the hands of a single
man.’—M.

The End of Mithridates. After his defeat at Nicopolis the aged
king took refuge in his Northern capital of Panticapaeum (on the
Cimmerian Bosporus). Here, when all turned against him, he took poison,
63 B.C. ‘In him a great enemy was
borne to the tomb, a greater than had ever yet withstood the Romans
in the indolent East.’—M.

1 Aedilis. As curule-aedile Caesar exceeded all previous
expenditure. This was meant to secure the favour of the democracy, and
gain the position of its leader, which was in fact vacant; for Crassus
was never popular, and Pompeius was absent in the East.

basilicas (βασιλική sc. οἰκία and στοά: regia) = halls.

2 porticibus: these acted as booths, in a grand fair, as we
should say.

4 Venationes, here of the combats with wild beasts.

7 M. Bibulus, also Caesar’s colleague in his first consulship,
59 B.C.

5 cohors praetoria: a corps d’élite, specially
organised as a bodyguard of the general (praetor =
praeitor, prae + eo), dating from the time when the
praetores was the older name of the consuls (= colleagues).

12 Ita cuncti . . . pepercerant = so unsparing had they all
been alike of their own and their opponents’
lives.—Pollard.

21 laetitia = joy manifested, gaudia = joy felt.

luctus = grief shown by outward signs, e.g. by
dress.

maeror = grief shown by inward signs, e.g. by tears, or
a sad face.

The Battle of Pistoria (Pistoia, N.W. of Faesulae). ‘Catiline
showed on this day that nature had destined him for no ordinary things,
and that he knew at once how to command and how to fight as a soldier.
At length Petreius, with his bodyguard, broke the centre of the enemy,
and then attacked the two wings from within. This decided the
day.’—M.

The character of Catiline. ‘He was one of the most wicked men in
that wicked age. He possessed in a high degree the qualities which are
required in the leader of a band of ruined and desperate men—the
faculty of enjoying all pleasures and of bearing all privations,
courage, military talent, knowledge of men, indomitable
energy.’—M. Cf. Sall. Catil. 5.

1-2 inter eum . . . societas, the famous First Triumvirate.
‘It was at first an expedient to secure, as we should say,
a working majority for a vigorous democratic policy, but the
bitterness of its enemies transformed the coalition itself from an
honourable union into the semblance of a three-headed
tyranny.’—Warde Fowler.

4-7 The ultra-senatorial party (after Pompeius’ great act of
renunciation, when he dismissed his victorious veterans in 62 B.C.) had checked and worried Pompeius by
refusing to ratify his arrangements in the East, and by criticising and
opposing his plans for rewarding his veterans. Thus they deliberately
drove him once more into the arms of Caesar and the democracy.

10 relegata = attributed, imputed, lit.
removed (re + lēgo).

21Bibulus, collega Caesaris: cf. Suet. Divus
Iulius 20:

Non Bibulo quicquam, nuper sed Caesare factum est:

Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini.

Caesar’s First Consulship. Among his other acts was the famous
Lex Iulia de pecuniis repetundis (against official extortion in
the provinces), which won strong praise even from Cicero himself.

Context. The Nervii, the bravest of the Belgae, surprised
Caesar’s men while at work on their camp. There was no time to think:
they took station where they could. The 9th and 10th legions on the left
broke and pursued the enemy in front of them, and the two legions in the
centre stood firm. But on the right there was a gap, and the Nervii were
rapidly surrounding the two legions huddled together here, and the fight
threatened every moment to become a second Cannae, when Caesar
restored the fight. Labienus sent back the victorious 10th, who took
the enemy in their rear, and the cavalry completed the victory.

22-23 operam navare = to do their very best.
navo (orig. gnavo; cf. γνώσκω) = lit. to make known, to
exhibit.

The Battle of the Sambre. One of the most desperate that Caesar
ever fought. The memory of it lived in Caesar’s mind so vividly that he
seems to fight the battle over again as he describes it, in language for
him unusually strong and intense.—W. F.

Context. In the winter of 57-6 Roman officers, who came to levy
requisitions of grain, were detained by the Veneti. Caesar’s attack on
their coast-towns failed to reduce them to submission: so he determined
to wait for his fleet. This he entrusted to Decimus Brutus, an able and
devoted officer. At first the Roman galleys were powerless against the
high-decked strong sailing-vessels of the Veneti, but the use of the
murales falces, and the opportune calm, enabled Brutus to annihilate
their fleet.

Context. The year 55 B.C.
appears to have been marked by a general movement in the migration of
the German tribes. An advance, consisting of two tribes, the Usipetes
and Tenctri, crowded forward by the more powerful Suevi, crossed the
Lower Rhine into N. Gaul. Caesar drove them back across the Rhine,
bridged the river, followed them up into their own territories,
and fully established the supremacy of the Roman arms.—Allen and
Greenough.

5 fistucisque adegerat = and had driven them home
(ad-) with rammers. For Plan of Bridge see Allen’s
Caesar, p. 103.

11-14 Haec . . . distinebantur = these two sets were held
apart by two-feet timbers laid on above, equal (in thickness) to
the interval left by the fastening of the piles (quantum
. . . distabat), with a pair of ties
(fibulis) at each end.—A. & G.

Context. The First Invasion of Britain (55 B.C.) was only a visit of exploration; but in the
Second Invasion (54 B.C.) Caesar aimed
at a partial conquest. He had been hearing of Britain ever since he came
to Gaul, and knew it to be a refuge for his Celtic enemies and a secret
source of their strength. He set sail from the Portus Ittius (mod.
Wissant, some twelve miles W. of Calais) and after drifting some way to
the N.E., made his way to his former landing-place, probably near
Romney. Some severe fighting followed, till at length Caesar crossed the
Thames (apparently between Kingston and Brentford) and entered the
country of Cassivellaunus, who gave Caesar much trouble by his guerilla
tactics. Deserted by his allies, Cassivellaunus offered his submission,
which Caesar gladly accepted.

1 Contentionis, i.e. of a general engagement with Caesar.

12 Relinquebatur ut = the consequence was that
. . .

17 hoc proelio, i.e. the storming by Caesar of his fortified
camp, perh. St. Albans.

Context. On his return from Britain, Caesar found the
N. Gauls in open revolt. The division of Sabinus (at Aduatuca, near
Liège) was annihilated by Ambiorix, and Caesar was only just in time to
relieve Q. Cicero at Charleroi. To prevent all further support to
the Gauls from the Germans across the Rhine, Caesar again made a
military demonstration across the river, and put an end to all the hopes
of the Germans of breaking through this boundary. In the winter of 53-2
B.C., during his absence in Cisalpine
Gaul, a general uprising of the S. and Central Gauls took place
under the Arvernian Vercingetorix, the hero of the whole Gallic
race.

6-7 anni tempore, i.e. scarcely yet spring, when no crops
could be got off the land.

11-12 hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo = so far in every
direction as.

19 oppida incendi: only Avaricum (Bourges) was to be
spared.

22 proposita = offered to be captured by the
Romans.

The tactics of Vercingetorix. ‘He adopted a system of warfare
similar to that by which Cassivellaunus had saved the Celts of
Britain.’—M.

Context. With a half-starved army Caesar stormed Avaricum after a
most obstinate defence, and then laid siege to the Arvernian capital of
Gergovia, in hope of destroying Vercingetorix and ending the war. As the
town was too strong to be taken by storm, he resolved to try a blockade,
but he failed, as at Dyrrachium in 49 B.C., from want of sufficient troops.

A last desperate attack on the town was repulsed, and Caesar,
defeated for the first time, was forced to raise the siege.

3 ab latere nostris aperto: as a soldier carries his shield on
the left arm, leaving the sword hand free, this (right) side is called
latus apertum.—Compton.

6 perterruerunt: this was all the more natural, as the Aeduan
contingent was only awaiting the result of the blockade, to openly join
the insurgents.

9 excidere = to cut away, hew down, i.e. from
within.

Gergovia, 4 miles S. of Clermont. This famous stronghold consists
of a rectangular plateau nearly a mile in length, and some 1300 feet
above the plain through which the Allier flows, and descending steeply
on all sides but one to the ground.

Caesar’s failure. ‘The fact was that chiefly owing to the nature
of the ground and their own ardour, Caesar’s men were not well in
hand.’—W. F.

Context. After his successful defence of Gergovia, Vercingetorix
allowed his judgment to be overruled, and attacked Caesar’s army (now
united to the division of Labienus) on the march. Caesar shook off the
enemy with the help of his German cavalry, and turned their retreat into
a rout. V. then threw himself with all his forces into Alesia. Caesar
constructed an inner line of investment and an outer line of defence,
and was thus able to wear out the besieged and beat back the
relieving host of the Gauls.

1 suos, i.e. the host (some 250,000) of the relieving army of
Gauls.

2 musculos (dimin. of mus) = pent-houses or
sheds.

4 omnibus locis, i.e. along the whole length of Caesar’s outer
line of defence, where it ran along the slope of Mont Réa, to the
N.W. of Alesia. This, as the relieving Gauls were quick to see, was the
weakest point of the whole line.

13 ex colore vestitus, i.e. the purple or scarlet
paludamentum.

Vercingetorix. The Celtic officers delivered up V. to Caesar, to
be led in triumph five years later, and beheaded as a traitor. In 1865 a
statue was erected on the summit of Alesia, in honour of the heroic
Gaul.

6-7 a patribus . . . transisset. When Cicero refused to throw
in his lot with the Triumvirs, Publius Clodius was (by the aid of Caesar
as Pontifex Maximus) hurriedly transferred from a patrician to a
plebeian gens, and then chosen a tribune of the people for the year 58
B.C. Clodius was thus enabled to
satisfy his private hatred of Cicero, and Caesar was enabled to get rid
of the man who persisted in opposing him.

7-8 qui . . . interemisset: aimed at Cicero for his share in
the summary execution of the Catilinarians 63 B.C. Mommsen calls it a judicial murder. Undoubtedly
the Senate had not the power of sentencing citizens to death. But
Cicero argues that the legal effect of the Senatus consultum
ultimum was to disenfranchise Lentulus and his associates,
and to place them in the position of outlaws.

12-13 Non caruerunt . . . Pompeius: Caesar having in vain
tried to win him over abandoned him to his fate, and Pompeius basely
deserted him.

5 tuae vicinae Salutis, the Temple of Salus on the Quirinal
was near the house of Atticus.

9 Quinti (sc. Ciceronis): Cicero’s only brother,
a gallant soldier (e.g. as legatus to Caesar in Gaul), but a man of
violent temper. Proscribed by the Triumvirs, and put to death in 43
B.C.

11-12 a Brundisinis . . . ornatus = having received
attentions from the most respectable men of Brundisium.

13 legati = deputations, i.e. from the various towns en
route.

14 nomenclatori (= lit. one who calls by name, cf.
καλ-έω, Cal-endae):
a confidential slave who attended his master in canvassing, and on
similar occasions, and told him the names of the people he met.

18 ad portam Capenam (Porta S. Sebastiano), by which
the Via Appia led to Capua. ‘Cicero, perhaps for effect, followed the
line of triumphal procession.’—Impey.

Cicero’s Recantation (παλινῳδία). The time for the struggle between the
Senatorial party (the Optimates) and the Triumvirs, weakened by their
mutual jealousy, seemed to have come. Accordingly Cicero proposed in a
full house to reconsider Caesar’s Agrarian Law (of 59 B.C.) for the allotment of lands in Campania; while
Domitius Ahenobarbus (candidate for next year’s Consulship) openly
declared his intention to propose Caesar’s recall. Caesar acted with his
usual promptness, and the Conference at Luca restored an understanding
between the three regents. Pompeius then crossed to Sardinia, and
informed Q. Cicero that he would be held reponsible for any act of
hostility on the part of his brother. Cicero had no choice but to
submit, and delivered in the Senate his oration de Provinciis
Consularibus, a political manifesto on behalf of Caesar and
Pompeius—the Recantation alluded to in Ep. ad Att.
iv. 5, and elaborately explained in Ep. ad Fam. i. 9 (to
Lentulus Spinther).

Context. By the conference of the Triumvirs at Luca, it was
arranged to secure the succession of Crassus to the government of Syria,
in order to make war on the growing strength of the Parthian Empire
beyond the Euphrates. Consul with Pompeius in 55 B.C. he set out for his province even before the
expiration of his consulship ‘eager to gather in the treasures of the
East in addition to those of the West.’

7-14 Primum enim . . . vibrantia. The Arab prince Abgarus
induced Crassus to leave the Euphrates, and cross the great Mesopotamian
desert to the Tigris. When at length the enemy offered battle some 30
miles to the S. of Carrhae (Harran, not far from Edessa), by the side of
the Parthian vizier stood prince Abgarus with his Bedouins.

15-17 Tunc sine mora . . . exercitus. The Roman weapons of
close combat, and the Roman system of concentration yielded for the
first time to cavalry and distant warfare (the bow).

20-21 Filium ducis: his young and brave son Publius, who had
served with the greatest distinction under Caesar in Gaul.

22 Reliquiae: out of 40,000 Roman legionaries, who had crossed
the Euphrates, not a fourth part returned: 20,000 fell, and 10,000 were
taken prisoners.

Carrhae. ‘The day of Carrhae takes its place side by side with
the days of the Allia, and of Cannae.’—M.

467-468 During the last few months of his life, Caesar was occupied
with the preparations for his expedition against the Parthians. In 36
B.C. Antonius carried on a disastrous
campaign against Phraates, King of Parthia, but in 20 B.C. Augustus received from the King the Eagles
(signa, l. 467) and prisoners captured at Carrhae.

CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR.

(i) to give Caesar a new term of five years’ government in which to
complete his work in Gaul (until March 1, 49);

(ii) to give Pompeius the government of the two Spains, and Crassus
that of Syria, for five years also.

It was further agreed that Pompeius and Crassus should have the
consulship for 55 B.C.

52 B.C. Pompeius Sole Consul. So things continued until 52
B.C., when the constant rioting
(Clodius v. Milo), and utter lawlessness prevailing in Rome gave
Pompeius his opportunity. The Senate in their distress caused
Pompeius to be nominated sole Consul, with supreme power to meet the
crisis. The death of Julia in 54 and of Crassus in 53 had removed the
two strongest influences for peace, and from 52 onwards the breach
between Pompeius and Caesar began to widen.

During Caesar’s long absence from Rome his opponents, with Cato at
their head, were waiting their chance to impeach him for numerous acts
in his province, as soon as he appeared in Rome for the consular
elections. He would then be merely a private citizen, and as such
amenable to prosecution. Now Caesar’s proconsulship of Gaul was to
terminate on March 1, 49, and the consular elections would take place at
the earliest in the following summer. There would therefore be an
interval between the two offices, and Caesar would be exposed to the
utmost peril, if he gave up province and army on March 1, 49. Caesar had
long foreseen this. When the law was passed in 55, which added a fresh
term of five years to his government, Pompeius seems to have inserted
in it (doubtless in accordance with a previous promise to Caesar)
a clause prohibiting the discussion of a successor before March
1, 50. Caesar therefore could not be superseded except by the
consuls of 49, and these would not be able to succeed him (as
proconsuls) till Jan. 1, 48. He would thus be able to retain his army
and government throughout the year 49.

210

Caesar’s canvass for the Consulship. As the law stood, he
would have to come in person to Rome. But early in 52 a decree was
promulgated, with the support of Pompeius, which relieved him from the
necessity of canvassing in person. Caesar might now feel himself
safe: he would retain both army and provinces throughout 49, and would
not be forced to return to Rome until he was safe from prosecution as
Consul.

Lex Pompeia de iure magistratuum. But this did not suit
Caesar’s enemies. Pompeius and the Senate combined to alter the whole
legal machinery for appointing provincial governors. There was to be
an interval of five years between a consulship and a proconsulship,
which would prevent Caesar, even if he were duly elected Consul in 49,
from obtaining a fresh provincial governorship until five years from the
end of 48. When the bill became law (as it did in 51) there would be an
interval of some years before any consuls would be qualified under it
for provinces: and to fill up the governorships during the interval, the
Senate was authorised to appoint any person of consular rank who had not
as yet proceeded to a proconsulship. Thus Caesar’s resignation both
of his army and his province could be demanded on March
1, 49.

50 B.C. Caesar’s overtures for peace. Caesar let it be known
to the Senate through Curio that he was willing to resign his army
and provinces if Pompeius would simultaneously do the same: and the
Senate voted a resolution in this sense by a majority of 370 to 22. The
presiding Consul, Gaius Marcellus, broke up the meeting in anger, and
with the two Consuls elected for 49 (Claudius Marcellus and Lentulus
Crus) requested Pompeius to put himself at the head of the two legions
stationed at Capua and to call the Italian militia to arms.

Caesar had completely attained the object of devolving the
initiative of Civil War on his opponents. He had, while himself
keeping on legal ground, compelled Pompeius to declare war, and to
declare it not as the representative of the legitimate authority, but as
general of a revolutionary minority of the Senate, which overawed the
majority.—Adapted from Long, Mommsen, and Warde Fowler.

Context. On Lentulus Crus and Claudius Marcellus, the Consuls for
49 B.C., must rest the immediate blame
of the Civil War. On Jan. 1st Caesar’s tribune Curio once more presented
proposals from Caesar, which startle us by their marvellous moderation
(cf. Suet. Caesar, 29, 30), but Lentulus would not allow them to
be considered. On Jan. 7th the Senatus consultum ultimum was
decreed, and a state of war declared. Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the
narrow brook which separated his province from Italy, to pass which at
the head of an army was high treason to the State.—W. F.

214 puniceus = dark red: Rubicon, as if from
ruber.

216 limes, i.e. until the time of Augustus, by whom Italy was
extended to the R. Varus, the boundary between Gallia Narbonensis
and Italy.

218 I.e. prob. the third night after the change of moon;
gravido = surcharged with rain.—Haskins.

219 Alpes = mountains, not the Alps.

225 temerata, i.e. by Pompeius and the senatorial party.

229 verbere = the thong, i.e. of the sling
(fundae).

231 Ariminum (Rimini), at this period the frontier town of
Italy.

The Passage of the Rubicon. ‘When after nine years’ absence he
trod once more the soil of his native land, he trod at the same time the
path of revolution. Alea iacta est.’—M.

Context. After his passage of the Rubicon, Caesar quickly made
himself master of Italy. Town after town opened its gates to him.
Corfinium (held in force by Domitius for Pompeius) surrendered, and the
captured troops enlisted in his ranks. An attempt to blockade Pompeius
in Brundisium was skilfully foiled. On the last day of March Caesar
arrived at Rome. The Senate was legally summoned by the tribunes
Antonius and Cassius, and was invited to unite with him in carrying
on the government.

2 municipia, i.e. Brundisium, Tarentum, Hydruntum
(Otranto).

10 ut sui . . . haberetur, i.e. allowing him to stand for the
consulship in his absence.

15 iacturam dignitatis = sacrifice of
prestige.—Long.

19 eripiendis legionibus, i.e. in 50 B.C. Caesar was required to send home a legion he
had borrowed of Pompeius, and contribute another himself, ostensibly for
the Parthian War; but the legions were detained by Pompeius in Italy,
and the Parthian War was quietly dropped.

Caesar in Rome. All Caesar’s acts after the crossing of the
Rubicon were entirely unconstitutional. But when he told the senators
that he was prepared to take the government on himself, he was justified
to himself by the past, and to posterity by the
result.—W. F.

Context. On leaving Rome Caesar set out for Spain to encounter
the veteran army of Pompeius under his legati Afranius and Petreius. If
this were crushed, he felt he would be free to take the offensive
against Pompeius in the East. Round Lerida (Ilerda) on the
R. Segres (a tributary of the Ebro) he fought the most
brilliant campaign of all his military life. After severe losses and
hardships, Caesar outmanœuvred the Pompeians, cut them off from their
base on the Ebro, and forced a surrender on most generous terms.

167 Dixit, sc. Caesar.

ad montes, i.e. the rocky hills through which the
retreating Pompeians had to pass before they could reach the Ebro
valley. Caesar, by a wonderful march, outstrips (praevenit) them
and blocks the way.

169 spatio (sc. interposito) languentia nullo =
not failing (languentia) owing to the distance,
i.e. they were so near they could not fail to recognise one
another.—Haskins.

173 metu, i.e. of their leaders.

175 Rupit leges = burst the bonds of
discipline.—H.

178 Admonet . . . aetas = one is reminded of his friend by
the time passed together in boyhood’s pursuits.—H.

200 Extrahit = whiles away.

Result of the Campaign. The whole of the western half of the
Empire was now in Caesar’s power, with the single exception of
Massilia.

Context. Caesar’s appeal to the leading citizens to espouse his
cause was at first successful, but the arrival of Domitius (whom he had
treated so generously at Corfinium) with a fleet caused the Massiliots
to change their mind. Unable to remain himself, Caesar entrusted the
siege to Trebonius, supported by Dec. Brutus with the fleet. He has,
however, left us a detailed account of their skill and energy, and of
the heroic defence of the citizens, marred by a treacherous sortie
under a truce. He returned to receive its final submission, and left
the city unharmed, as a tribute ‘rather to its ancient renown than to
any claim it had on himself.’

389 non impulsa = not urged by others, i.e. by Pompeius
and his adherents. But cf. Caesar, de B. C. i. 34.

Context. In 49 B.C. Curio was
sent by Caesar to wrest the corn-province of Africa from the Pompeians.
He won a signal success over Varus (allied with Juba) at Utica, but
allowed himself to be surprised on the plain of the Bagradas, and, when
all was lost, died sword in hand.

800 tribunicia arce = from the citadel of the tribune,
i.e. the inviolability of the office and the right of veto. As tribune
Curio played an all-important part in the crisis of 50 B.C.

801 prodita iura senatus, i.e. of the right of the senators to
appoint governors of the provinces.—Haskins.

802 gener atque socer: by the early death of Julia (54 B.C.)—a beloved wife and
daughter—the personal relation between Pompeius and Caesar was
broken up.

Context. In Jan. (48 B.C.)
Caesar set sail from Brundisium and landed safely in Epirus. After a
junction with Antonius, who followed him from Brundisium with
reinforcements, Caesar established himself close to Dyrrachium
(Durazzo), the key of the whole military situation. Pompeius refused to
fight, and encamped on a hill close to the sea at Petra, a short
distance S. of Dyrrachium, where his fleets could bring him supplies.
Caesar now determined to hem him in by a line of circumvallation.

2 tanto spatio: eventually the whole circuit of
circumvallation covered at the least 16 miles: to this was afterwards
added, just as before Alesia, an outer line of defence.

6 aut aliqua offensione permotos = or demoralised by some
other mishap (offensione, lit. stumbling, and so
failure).

12-15 Pompeius still had undisputed command of the sea.

Caesar’s lines broken. Pompeius was informed by Celtic deserters
that Caesar had not yet secured by a cross wall the beach between his
two chains of entrenchment on his left (200 yards apart), leaving it
possible to land troops from the sea into the unprotected space. Troops
were landed by night: Caesar’s outer line of defence was carried, and
his lines broken through. ‘Like Wellington at Burgos in 1812, Caesar
failed from want of a sufficient force. In each case the only safe
course was a retreat: in each case the retreat was conducted with
admirable skill.’—W. F.

9 Pompeiani theatri. Pompeius built the first stone theatre at
Rome, near the Campus Martius, capable of holding 40,000 people.

10 Innumeram . . . plebis = the image of the countless
Roman people. innumeram which belongs to plebis is
transferred to effigiem.—Haskins.

14 Olim . . . triumphi, i.e. over Africa 79 B.C. when only 24, and adhuc Romanus eques
(l. 19). It was not until 71 B.C.
that he triumphed over Spain, after the murder of Sertorius. Lucan
confuses the two triumphs.

16 impulit = set in motion (lit. drive
forward).

17-18 pura venerabilis . . . toga = no less worshipful in
pure white gown than (he would have been) in that which usually
adorns the car of triumph, i.e. the toga picta.—H.

20 anxia (sc. quies) = his repose full of anxiety
for the future.—H.

21-22 solitas . . . vaticinata = foretelling the opposite
of his visions i.e. by the plausus of which he dreamed, the
planctus which was in store for him was
foreshadowed.—H.

Context. Caesar made for Apollonia, where he left his wounded,
and then marched S.E. into Thessaly, where he joined Domitius Calvinus.
(He had been sent with two legions E. into Macedonia, to stop
reinforcements for Pompeius under Scipio, Pompeius’ father-in-law.)
Pompeius followed Caesar, and encamped on the slope of a hill facing
Caesar’s position near Pharsalus. Here he offered battle, his better
judgment overruled by the clamorous Senators in his camp.

4-5 aciem . . . paterentur = so as to allow their
(advancing) line to become disorganised (distrahi), by the
force of its onset.

7 in suis . . . dispositi = by maintaining their proper
distances.

Scene of the Fight. The battle was fought near the town of
Pharsalus, while the territory of the town was named
Pharsalia. Cf. Catull. lxiv. 37:

Pharsalumcoeunt, Pharsalialate
frequentant.

The Battle. Pompeius had 47,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry against
Caesar’s 22,000 infantry and 1000 cavalry. Pompeius stationed his
cavalry and archers on his left, and confidently expected to outflank
his enemy’s right. But Caesar, foreseeing the defeat of his cavalry, had
stationed behind it in reserve 2000 of his best legionaries. When
Caesar’s cavalry fell back outnumbered, this reserve ran forward at the
charge, not discharging their pila, but using them as spears, and
driving them against man and horse. Taken aback by so unusual an
infantry attack, the Pompeian cavalry wavered and fled. Caesar’s third
line (forming a rear-guard) was now sent forward to support the two
front lines, and this decided the battle.—Result.
Submission of the East to Caesar.

Context. After the battle of Pharsalus, Pompeius, closely pursued
by Caesar, had thoughts of going to Parthia and trying to form alliances
there. While in Cyprus he heard that Antioch (in Syria) had declared for
Caesar and that the route to the Parthians was no longer open. So he
altered his plan and sailed to Egypt, where a number of his old soldiers
served in the Egyptian army.

4 Pelusium, on the E. side of the easternmost mouth of the
Nile.

5 cum sorore Cleopatra. By his father’s will, Ptolemy ruled
jointly with his sister for three years, 51-48 B.C., when he expelled her. Cleopatra raised an army
in Syria and invaded Egypt. The two armies were encamped opposite each
other when Pompeius landed to seek the help of Ptolemy.

‘On the same day (28 Sept.) on which he had triumphed over Mithridates
(61 B.C.) Pompeius died on the desert
sands of the inhospitable Casian shore by the hands of one of his old
soldiers (Septimius).’—M.

193 solus (sc. ex proceribus) . . . servire sibi
= alone (of the chief men of the State) acting the
private citizen when the populace were ready to be his slaves, i.e.
acting unlike Sulla or Caesar.—H.

195 sed regnantis. ‘Pompeius came forward as the duly
installed general of the Senate against the Imperator of the street,
once more to save his country.’—M.

198 Intulit, sc. in aerarium. Cf. Shaksp. Jul.
C. III. ii. (Mark Antony of Caesar) ‘He hath brought many captives
home to Rome | Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.’ ‘Caesar
devoted the proceeds of the confiscations (the property of defeated
opponents) entirely to the benefit of the State.’—M.

208 cui summa dies . . . victo = whom the day of death met
when he was vanquished, i.e. without his having to seek it
himself.—H.

209 Pharium = Egyptian, lit. of Pharos (= Faro),
an island near Alexandria, famous for its lighthouse.

211 One of Lucan’s famous sententiae (γνῶμαι, maxims).

Pompeius. ‘Even in his own age he would have had a clearly
defined and respectable position, had he contented himself with being
the general of the Senate, for which he was from the outset
destined.’—M.

813-814 dic semper . . . togam, e.g. after his triumph over
Spain 71 B.C., and over Mithridates
and the East in 61 B.C.

814-815 ter curribus . . . triumphos = (tell how) content
with thrice driving the (triumphal) car he made a present to his
fatherland of many triumphs, i.e. he did not claim them when he
might have done so.

Context. After Pharsalus and the flight of Pompeius, we finally
part company with Caesar as an author. The Bellum Alexandrinum
(Caesar’s perils in Egypt and his settlement of the East 48-47 B.C.), the B. Africum (Thapsus
46 B.C.), the
B. Hispaniense (Munda 45 B.C.), are the work of eyewitnesses and officers of
his army. After a delay of fifteen precious months Caesar landed in
Africa (Jan. 46), and by investing Thapsus tempted Scipio (Pompeius’
father-in-law) to try to save the city by a battle. His troops were
quickly arranged as at Pharsalus, and by a single impetuous charge won a
complete victory. The slaughter was terrible: the survivors fled to
Utica, where Cato in vain tried to organise a defence and to restore
order, and then in despair died by his own sword.

1 Uticam: second in importance to Carthage.

19 animo praesenti = deliberately.

After Thapsus. ‘Caesar left Africa in June 46 B.C., and celebrated a magnificent triumph, not over
Roman citizens, but over Gauls and Egyptians, Pharnaces and Juba. As
Dictator he remained in Rome several months, in which more permanently
valuable work was done than was ever achieved in the same space of time,
unless it were by Cromwell in 1653-4. The senseless outbreak of the
Pompeian party in Spain under Labienus and the two sons of Pompeius took
him away from Rome: but the victory of Munda (45 B.C.) closed the civil strife. Caesar returned to
Rome in September, and six months more of life was all that was left to
him.’—W. F.

381-383 servare modum . . . mundo. These expressions are Stoic
maxims. Lucan (the nephew of Seneca) depicts the Stoic idea of virtue in
the character of Cato.

382-383 patriaeque . . . mundo. Cato’s aim is patriae
impendere vitam. His devotion to the service of humanity is
complete; it is his part toti genitum se credere mundo. But this
humanity includes Rome in the first place, the rest of the world in a
quite secondary sense.—H.

Cato Uticensis. ‘He was like Caesar alone in this, that he had
clear political convictions and acted on them not only with consistency
but with justice and humanity. It is “his vain faith and courage” that
alone lights up the dark hours of the falling Commonwealth:—

Subject. We here catch a glimpse of Caesar as he really was. He
had spent a night near Puteoli (where Cicero also had a villa) with
Philippus, the step-father of Octavianus. The Dictator proposed a visit,
and Cicero in this memorable letter describes to Atticus what
happened.

1 O hospitem . . .ἀμεταμέλητον! = Oh, what a formidable guest to
have had, and yet I have had no reason to repent of it (ἀμεταμέλητον).

10 rationes (sc. conferebat) . . . Balbo = he
was settling accounts with Balbus, I suppose. L. Cornelius
Balbus, a native of Gades (Cadiz), was Caesar’s confidential
secretary and faithful friend. He was the first enfranchised foreigner
who attained to the highest magistracy (Consul 40 B.C.).

Context. After his return from Spain (Sept. 45 B.C.), Caesar was busy with the reconstruction of
the Senate, the completion of his vast buildings in Rome, and with other
far-reaching projects. But during these months the clouds of ill-will
were gathering and threatening him on every side. A conspiracy was
formed, of which C. Cassius, ‘a lean and hungry man,’ of a
bitter and jealous disposition, seems to have been the real instigator.
He persuaded Brutus, a student of life chiefly in books, that
liberty could only be gained by murder, and at last it was resolved that
the deed should be done on the Ides (15th) of March.

8 graphio (γραφίον = scriptorium) = a
writing-style.

12 quo honestius caderet, cf. Ovid, Fasti ii. 833
(of Lucretia):

Tunc quoque iam moriens ne non procumbat honeste

Respicit, haec etiam cura cadentis erat.

16 Καὶ σὺ
τέκνον; there seems to be no authority for attributing the words
Et tu Brute? to Caesar. Shakespeare found them in an earlier
play.

The Murder of Caesar. ‘It is the most brutal and the most
pathetic scene that profane history has to record; it was, as Goethe has
said, the most senseless deed that ever was done. It was wholly useless,
for it did not and could not save Rome from monarchy. The deed was done
by a handful of men, who, pursuing a phantom liberty and following the
lead of a personal hatred, slew the one man who saw the truth of
things.’—W. F.

Caesar was the sole creative genius produced by Rome, and the last
produced by the ancient world, which accordingly moved on in the path
that he marked out for it until its sun went down.

Whatever he undertook and achieved was pervaded and guided by the
cool sobriety which constitutes the most marked peculiarity of his
genius. To this he owed the power of living energetically in the
present, undisturbed either by recollection or by expectation: to this
he owed the capacity of acting at any moment with collected vigour, and
of applying his whole genius even to the smallest and most incidental
enterprise. Gifts such as these could not fail to produce a
statesman.

Caesar as a statesman.—From early youth Caesar was a
statesman in the deepest sense of the term, and his aim was the
political, military, intellectual, and moral regeneration of his own
deeply decayed nation, and of the still more deeply decayed Hellenic
nation intimately akin to his own. According to his original plan,
he had proposed to reach his object, like Pericles and Gaius Gracchus,
without force of arms, until, reluctantly convinced of the necessity for
a military support, he, when already forty years of age, put himself at
the head of an army.

His talent for organisation was marvellous.—No statesman
has ever compelled alliances, no general has ever collected an army out
of unyielding and refractory elements with such decision, and kept them
together with such firmness, as Caesar displayed in constraining and
upholding his coalitions and his legions; never did regent judge his
instruments and assign each to the place appropriate for him with so
accurate an eye.

He was monarch; but he never played the king.—‘I am
no king, but Caesar.’ Even when absolute lord of Rome, he retained the
deportment of the party-leader; perfectly pliant and smooth, easy and
charming in conversation, complaisant towards
229
everyone, it seemed as if he wished io be nothing but the first among
his peers.

Caesar ruled as king of Rome for five years and a half, not half as
long as Alexander: in the intervals of seven great campaigns, which
allowed him to stay not more than fifteen months altogether in the
capital of his empire, he regulated the destinies of the world for
the present and the future. The outlines were laid down, and thereby
the new State was defined for all coming time: the boundless future
alone could complete the structure. But precisely because the building
was an endless one, the master so long as he lived restlessly added
stone to stone, with always the same dexterity and always the same
elasticity busy at work. Thus he worked and created as never did any man
before or after him: and as a worker and creator he still, after
well-nigh two thousand years, lives in the memory of the
nations—the first and withal unique Imperator Caesar.

115 totis Quinquatribus, i.e. during all the five days of the
Quinquatria, an annual feast of Minerva, March 19-23: it was always a
holiday time at schools, and the school year began at the close
of it.

116 parcam Minervam = a cheap kind of learning, and
uno asse = an entrance fee of oneas. But Duff says
as here = stips, i.e. the boy’s contribution to the
goddess of wisdom, who can make him wise, and parcam (=
economical), transferred from asse to Minervam.

117 vernula = a little home-born slave, capsa a
circular box of beech-wood, used for the transport of books.

121 causidici pusilli = of a petty pleader, as opposed
to orator.

122 From Cicero’s poem de suo consulatu. Another line quoted
in the 2nd Philippic is Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea
laudi.

124 Ridenda poemata malo, i.e. they are better as being safer.
Juvenal himself refutes this argument:

1 triumvirorum, sc. Antonius, Octavianus, and Lepidus. These
three allies (about the end of Oct. 43 B.C.) held their famous meeting on an island in the
R. Rhenus (a tributary of the Padus) near Bononia (Bologna),
at which they constituted themselves a commission of three with absolute
powers for five years. This was followed by a proscription of their
principal opponents, of whom seventeen, including Cicero (sacrificed to
Antonius), were at once put to death.

4 in Tusculanum, i.e. to his villa at Tusculum, richly adorned
with pictures and statues.

5 in Formianum, i.e. to his villa at Formiae, on the Appian
Way, in the innermost corner of the beautiful Gulf of Caieta (Gaëta).
Near this villa Cicero was murdered.

The Death of Cicero. Cicero’s work was over, and the tragedy of
his death was the natural outcome of his splendid failure. The
restoration of the Commonwealth of the Scipios was but a dream; still it
was a beautiful dream, and Cicero gave his life for
it.—Tyrrell.

10-15 dumque . . . trahet, in reference to Cicero’s
philosophical works, in which Cicero propounds no original scheme of
philosophy, claiming only that he renders the conclusions of Greek
thinkers accessible to his own countrymen.

21-22 ruina . . . steterat, i.e. the restoration of the
Commonwealth of the Scipios.

Cicero. ‘It happened many years after that Augustus once found
one of his grandsons with a work of Cicero’s in his hands. The boy was
frightened, and hid the book under his gown; but Caesar took it from
him, and, standing there motionless, he read through a great part of the
book; then he gave it back to the boy, and said “This was a great
orator, my child; a great orator, and a man who loved his country
well.”’—Plutarch, Cicero, 49.

Subject. Go where thou wilt, my Tullus, know that all the sights
and marvels of all lands, from West to East, are outdone by those of
thine own Italy. A truly famous land! A land ever victorious,
ever merciful; full of fair lakes and streams. Here, Tullus, is thy true
abode: here seek a life of honour and a home.

8 Phorcidos ora = the head of Medusa, the daughter of
Phorcus.

15 Ortygii Caystri. Ortygia, an old name for Ephesus, near the
mouth of the R. Cayster: the haunt of quails
(Ortygia, ὄρτυξ).

16 temperat septenas vias = moderates its seven
channels, of the delta of the Nile.—Ramsay.

19-22 Cf. Verg. Aen. vi. 853 Parcere subiectis et debellare
superbos.

19 commoda noxae = disposed to harm.—North
Pinder.

24 Marcius umor, i.e. the aqueduct of Q. Marcius Rex; built
145 B.C.

25 The Alban and Arician Lakes (Nemorensis = mod. Nemi)
are close together.

26 i.e. the well Iuturna in the Forum (‘the well that springs by
Vesta’s fane’) at which the Dioscuri washed their horses after their hot
ride from Lake Regillus.

Subject. In a remarkable passage, Prudentius (circ. 400 A.D.) views the victorious empire of Rome as
preparing the way for the coming of Christ. The triumphs of the Romans
were not, he says, the gifts of false gods, grateful for sacrifices, but
were designed by Providence to break down the barriers between the
jarring nationalities of the world, and familiarise them with a common
yoke, by way of disciplining them for a common Christianity. An
“universal peace is struck through sea and land,” and Law, Art,
Commerce, and Marriage constitute the world one city and one family.
Thus the way was paved for the coming of Christ by the unity of the
empire and the civilisation of the individual subject.—North
Pinder.

II. SUBORDINATE.—These conjunctions attach to a sentence or
clause another clause which holds (grammatically) a lower or
subordinate position, qualifying the principal clause just as an
adverb qualifies a verb.

Thus in ‘I will do this, if you do,’ the if clause is
equivalent to the adverb conditionally.

The heading and the author will at once suggest the stirring incident in
the Battle of Lake Trasimene, when Flaminius atoned for his rashness by
his gallant example and death.

You have seen how Analysis helps you to arrive at the main thought of
the sentence, and you are familiar with the principles that govern the
order of words in Latin, and the important part played by the emphatic
position of words. So you may now try to think in Latin; that is,
to take the thought in the Latin order, without reference to analysis or
the English order. You will do well to follow closely this advice of
experienced teachers:—‘Read every word as if it were the last on
the page, and you had to turn over without being able
290
to turn back. If, however, you are obliged to turn back, begin again at
the beginning of the sentence and proceed as before. Let each word of
the Latin suggest some conception gradually adding to and completing the
meaning of the writer. If the form of the word gives several
possibilities, hold them all in your mind, so far as may be, till
something occurs in the progress of the sentence to settle the
doubt.’

Ia
1. Tres ferme horas = for nearly three hours. This
construction (Acc. of extent of time) will be familiar to you. Notice
the emphatic position of the phrase.

pugnatum est = the battle was fought. This use of the
so-called impersonal passive is very frequent, and is generally best
translated by taking the root-idea of the verb as a subject.

et ubique atrociter = and everywhere fiercely.

Ib
2. circa consulem tamen = around the consul however.

acrior infestiorque pugna est = the battle is more keen and
more vehement. This presents no difficulty; acrior and
infestior must qualify pugna, which follows
immediately.

IIa
3. eum = him, plainly consulem (i.e. Flaminius),
for no one else has been mentioned. Notice the emphatic position of
eum.

et robora virorum sequebantur = both the strongest of his
troops followed. You may know that robur (lit. hard
wood) is often used of the toughest troops, the flower of
an army.

et ipse = and himself, i.e. the consul (Flaminius).

3-4. quacunque in parte = in whatever part.

4. premi ac laborare senserat suos = he had seen his men
hard pressed and in distress. No other meaning is possible, nor does
the order present any difficulty, but notice the emphatic position of
suos.

donec Insuber eques = until an Insubrian trooper.
donec may mean while, but the context shows that
until or at last is the right meaning here.

6-7. Ducario nomen erat = (his) name was Ducarius, i.e.
ei nomen erat Ducario, where Ducario is possess. dat. in
appos. to ei understood. It is, however, possible that the
trooper’s name was Ducario, but cf. page 126,
l. 2.

7. facie quoque noscitans consulem = by his face also
(i.e. as well as by his armour) recognising the consul.

IIc
7-8. ‘En’ inquit ‘his est’ popularibus suis = See, said he, to
his fellow-countrymen (comrades), this is the man.

8. qui legiones nostras cecīdit = who slaughtered our
legions. There is a slight difficulty here, but a moment’s thought
will remove it. It must be cecīdit, perf. of caedo, and
not cecĭdit, perf. of cado, which is intransitive.

This passage is quite simple, but it will serve to show you how you
may with practice learn to take the thought in the Latin order,
and to grasp the writer’s meaning. All that now remains for you to do is
to write out a translation in good English, using short coordinate
sentences, each complete in itself, in place of the more involved
structure of the original. The following version by the late Professor
Jebb will serve as a model:—

They fought for about three hours, and everywhere with desperation.
Around the consul, however, the fight was peculiarly keen and vehement.
He had the toughest troops with him; and he himself, whenever he saw
that his men were hard pressed, was indefatigable in coming to the
rescue. Distinguished by his equipment, he was a target for the enemy
and a rallying-point for the Romans. At last a Lombard trooper, named
Ducario, recognising the person as well as the guise of the consul,
cried out to his people, ‘Here is the man who cut our legions to pieces
and sacked our city—now I will give this victim to the shades of
our murdered countrymen.’ Putting spurs to his horse, he dashed through
the thick of the foe. First he cut down the armour-bearer, who had
thrown himself in the way of the onset. Then he drove his lance through
the consul. He was trying to despoil the corpse, when some veterans
screened it with their shields.

SHORT LIVES OF ROMAN AUTHORS

DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS, 309-392 A.D.

1. Life.

AUSONIUS.

Born at Burdigala (Bordeaux), and carefully educated. At the
age of thirty appointed professor of rhetoric in his native University,
where he became so famous that he was appointed tutor to Gratian, son of
the Emperor Valentinian (364-375 A.D.), and was afterwards raised to the highest
honours of the State (Consul, 379 A.D.). Theodosius (Emperor of the East, 378-395
A.D.) gave him leave to retire from
court to his native country, where he closed his days in an honoured
literary retirement.

2. Works.

A very voluminous writer both in prose and verse.

1. Prose: The only extant specimen is his Gratiarum Actio to
Gratianus for the Consulship.

2. Verse: Of this we have much: it has little value as poetry, but in
point of contents and diction it is interesting and valuable. Some of
his Epigrammata and Epitaphia are worth preserving, but
his claim to rank as a poet rests on his Mosella, a beautiful
description of the R. Moselle, which is worthy to be compared with
Pliny’s description of the R. Clitumnus (Ep.
viii. 8).

‘In virtue of this poem Ausonius ranks not merely as the last, or all
but the last, of Latin, but as the first of French
poets.’—Mackail.

1. Life.

For his military and political career, his Consulship (195 B.C.), his famous Censorship (184 B.C.), and his social reforms, see some good
history, e.g. Mommsen, vol, iii.

2. Works.

His chief works are:—

(1) His treatise De Re Rustica or De Agri Cultura (his
only extant work).—A series of terse and pointed directions
following one on another, somewhat in the manner of Hesiod, and
interesting ‘as showing the practical Latin style, and as giving the
prose groundwork of Vergil’s stately and beautiful embroidery in the
Georgics.’—Mackail.

(2) The Origines.—‘The oldest historical work written in
Latin, and the first important prose work in Roman
literature.’—Mommsen. Nepos, Cato, 3, summarises the
contents of the seven books.

Cato struggled all his life against Greek influence in literature and
in manners, which he felt would be fatal to his ideal of a Roman
citizen. In a letter to his son Marcus he says Quandoque ista gens
suas litteras dabit, omnia corrumpet. He was famous for his homely
wisdom, which gained him the title of Sapiens, e.g. Rem tene:
verba sequentur—‘Take care of the sense: the words will take
care of themselves.’

GAIUS VALERIUS CATULLUS, circ. 84-54 B.C.

1. Life.

CATULLUS.

Born at Verona, of a family of wealth and position, as is seen from
his having estates at Sirmio:—

Salve, O venusta Sirmio, atque ero gaude (C. 31)

and near Tibur: O funde noster seu Sabine seu Tiburs
(C. 44). His father was an intimate friend of Caesar. He went to
Rome early, where he spent the greater part of his short life,

297

Romae vivimus: illa domus,

Illa mihi sedes, illic mea carpitur aetas (C. 68),

with the exception of an official journey to Bithynia, 57 B.C. to better his fortunes: cf. Iam ver
egelidos refert tepores ... Linquantur Phrygii, Catulle, campi
(C. 46). After a life of poetic culture and free social enjoyment
he died at the early age of thirty, ‘the young Catullus,’ hedera
iuvenilia tempora cinctus (Ovid, Am. III. ix. 61).

2. Works.

116 poems written in various metres and on various subjects, Lyric,
Elegiac, Epic.

‘The event which first revealed the full power of his genius, and
which made both the supreme happiness and supreme misery of his life,
was his love for Lesbia (Clodia).’—Sellar.

‘Catullus is one of the great poets of the world, not so much through
vividness of imagination as through his singleness of nature, his vivid
impressibility, and his keen perception. He received the gifts of the
passing hour so happily that to produce pure and lasting poetry it was
enough for him to utter in natural words something of the fulness of his
heart. He says on every occasion exactly what he wanted to say, in
clear, forcible, spontaneous language.’—Sellar.

‘The most attractive feature in the character of Catullus is the
warmth of his affection. If to love warmly, constantly, and unselfishly
be the best title to the love of others, few poets in any age or country
deserve a kindlier place in the hearts of men than “the young
Catullus.”’—Sellar.

2. Works.

(1) Speeches.—We possess 57 speeches, and fragments of
about 20 more, and we know of 33 others delivered by Cicero.

‘As a speaker and orator Cicero succeeded in gaining a place
299
beside Demosthenes. His strongest point is his style; there he is clear,
concise and apt, perspicuous, elegant and brilliant. He commands all
moods, from playful jest to tragic pathos, but is most successful in the
imitation of conviction and feeling, to which he gave increased
impression by his fiery delivery.’—Teuffel. Quintilian says of him
that his eloquence combined the power of Demosthenes, the copiousness of
Plato, and the sweetness of Isocrates.

(2) Philosophical Works.—The chief are the De
Republica (closed by the Sommium Sciponis): the De
Legibus: the De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum: the
Academics: Tusculan Disputations with the De
Divinatione: the De Senectute and De Amicitia: De
natura Deorum, and the De Officiis.

As a philosopher Cicero had no pretensions to originality. He found
the materials for most of these works in the writings of the Greek
philosophers. ‘I have to supply little but the words,’ he writes,
‘and for these I am never at a loss.’ It was however no small
achievement to mould the Latin tongue to be a vehicle for Greek
philosophic thought, and thus to render the conclusions of Greek
thinkers accessible to his own countrymen.

(3) Rhetorical treatises.—The chief are the De
Oratore (in 3 Books), perhaps the most finished example of the
Ciceronian style: the Brutus or De Claris Oratoribus, and
the Orator (or De optime Genere Dicendi).

(4) Letters.—Besides 774 letters written by Cicero, we
have 90 addressed to him by friends. The two largest collections of his
Letters are the Epistulae ad Atticum (68-43 B.C.) and the Epistulae ad Familiares (62-43
B.C.).

These letters are of supreme importance for the history of Cicero’s
time. ‘The quality which makes them most valuable is that they were not
(like the letters of Pliny, and Seneca, and Madame de Sévigné) written
to be published. We see in them Cicero as he was. We behold him in his
strength and in his weakness—the bold advocate, and yet timid and
vacillating statesman, the fond husband, the affectionate father, the
kind master, the warm-hearted friend.’—Tyrrell.

The style of the Letters is colloquial but thoroughly accurate. ‘The
art of letter-writing suddenly rose in Cicero’s hands to its full
perfection.’—Mackail.

(5) Poems.—The fragments we possess show that
verse-writing came easily to him, but he never could have been a great
300
poet, for he had not the divinus afflatus, so finely expressed by
Ovid in the line Est Deus in nobis, agitante calescimus illo.

‘Cicero stands in prose like Vergil in poetry, as the bridge between
the ancient and the modern world. Before his time Latin prose was, from
a wide point of view, but one among many local ancient dialects. As it
left his hands it had become a universal language, one which had
definitely superseded all others, Greek included, as the type of
civilised expression.’—Mackail.

CLAUDIUS CLAUDIANUS, flor. 400 A.D.

1. Life.

CLAUDIAN.

Born probably at Alexandria, where he lived until, in the year of the
death of Theodosius 395 A.D., he
acquired the patronage of Stilicho, the great Vandal general, who, as
guardian of the young Emperor Honorius, was practically ruler of the
Western Empire. He remained attached to the Court at Milan, Rome and
Ravenna, and died soon after the downfall of his patron Stilicho, 408
A.D.

2. Works.

In his historical epics he derived his subjects from his own age,
praising his patrons Stilicho (On the Consulate of Stilicho) and
Honorius (on the Consulate of Honorius), and inveighing against
Rufinus and Eutropius, the rivals of Stilicho. Of poems on other
subjects, ‘his three books of the unfinished Rape of Proserpine are
among the finest examples of the purely literary
epic.’—Mackail.

‘Claudian is the last of the Latin poets, forming the transitional
link between the Classic and the Gothic mode of
thought.’—Coleridge.

3. Style.

‘His faults belong almost as much to the age as to the writer. In
description he is too copious and detailed: his poems abound with long
speeches: his parade of varied learning, his partiality for abstruse
mythology, are just the natural defects of a lettered but uninspired
epoch.’—North Pinder.

301

QUINTUS ENNIUS, 239-169 B.C.

1. Life.

ENNIUS.

He was born at Rudiae in Calabria (about 19 miles S. of Brundisium),
a meeting-place of three different languages, that of common life
(Oscan, cf. Opici), that of culture and education (Greek), that
of military service (Latin). Here he lived for some twenty years,
availing himself of those means of education which at this time were
denied to Rome or Latium. We next hear of him serving as centurion in
Sardinia, where he attracted the attention of Cato, then quaestor, and
accompanied him to Rome, 204 B.C. Here
for some fifteen years he lived plainly, supporting himself by teaching
Greek, and making translations of Greek plays for the Roman stage, and
so won the friendship of the elder Scipio. In 189 B.C. M. Fulvius Nobilior took Ennius with him
in his campaign against the Aetolians, as a witness and herald of his
deeds. His son obtained for Ennius the Roman citizenship (184 B.C.) by giving him a grant of land at
Potentia in Picenum. Nos sumus Romani, qui fuimus ante Rudini.
The rest of his life was spent mainly at Rome in cheerful simplicity and
active literary work.

2. Works.

The chief are:—

(1) Tragedies.—Mainly translations, especially from
Euripides. A few fragments only remain. ‘It was certainly due to
Ennius that Roman Tragedy was first raised to that pitch of popular
favour which it enjoyed till the age of Cicero.’—Sellar.

(2) Annales.—An Epic Hexameter poem, in 18 books, which
dealt with the History of Rome from the landing of Aeneas in Italy down
to the Third Macedonian War (Pydna, 168 B.C.). About 600 lines are extant.

‘In his Annals he unfolds a long gallery of national portraits. His
heroes are men of one common aim—the advancement of Rome; animated
with one sentiment, devotion to the State. All that was purely personal
in them seems merged in the traditional pictures which express only the
fortitude, dignity and sagacity of the Republic.’—Sellar.

302

3. Style.

For the first time Ennius succeeded in moulding the Latin language to
the movement of the Greek hexameter. In spite of imperfections and
roughness, his Annals remained the foremost and representative
Roman poem till Vergil wrote the Aeneid. Lucretius, whom he
influenced, and to whom Vergil owes so much, says of him:

Ennius ut noster cecinit, qui primus amoeno

Detulit ex Helicone perenni fronde coronam,

Per gentes Italas honinum quae clara clueret;

‘As sang our Ennius, the first who brought down from pleasant Helicon a
chaplet of unfading leaf, the fame of which should ring out clear
through the nations of Italy.’

And later, Quintilian, X. i. 88: ‘Ennium sicut sacros vetustate lucos
adoremus, in quibus grandia et antiqua robora iam non tantam habent
speciem quantam religionem: Let us venerate Ennius like the groves,
sacred from their antiquity, in which the great and ancient oak-trees
are invested, not so much with beauty, as with sacred
associations.’—Sellar.

FLAVIUS EUTROPIUS, fl. 375 A.D.

1. Life.

EUTROPIUS.

Very little is known of his life. He is said to have held the office
of a secretary under Contanstine the Great (ob. 337 A.D.), and to have served under the Emperor Julian
in his ill-fated expedition against the Persians, 363 A.D.

2. Works.

His only extant work is his

Breviarium Historiae Romanae.—A brief compendium of
Roman History in ten books from the foundation of the city to the
accession of Valens, 364 A.D., to whom
it is inscribed.

3. Style.

His work is a compilation made from the best authorities, with good
judgment and impartiality, and in a simple style. Its brevity and
practical arrangement made it very popular.

303

FLORUS, circ. 120 (or 140?) A.D. (temp. Hadrian).

1. Life.

FLORUS.

L. Julius (or Annaeus) Florus lived at Rome in the time of Trajan or
Hadrian. Little else is known of his life.

2. Works.

3. Style.

A pretentious and smartly written work abounding in mistakes,
contradictions, and misrepresentations of historical truth. It was,
however, popular in the Middle Ages on account of its brevity and its
rhetorical style. Florus is useful in giving us a short account of
events in periods where we have no books of Livy to guide us.

S. JULIUS FRONTINUS, circ. 41-103 A.D.

1. Life.

FRONTINUS.

He was praetor urbanus 70 A.D., and in 75 succeeded Cerealis as governor oi
Britain, where, as Tacitus tells us, he distinguished himself by the
conquest of the Silures: sustinuit molem Iulius Frontinus, vir
magnus, quantum licebat, validamque et pugnacem Siturum gentem armis
subegit: ‘Julius Frontinus was equal to the burden, a great man
as far as greatness was then possible (i.e. under the jealous rule of
Domitian), who subdued by his arms the powerful and warlike tribe of the
Silures.’

In 97 he was nominated curator aquarum, administrator of the
aqueducts of Rome: the closing years of his life were passed in studious
retirement at his villa on the Bay of Naples. Cf. Mart. X. lviii.

2. Works.

Two works of his are extant:—

(1) De Aquis Urbis Romae.—A treatise on the Roman
water-supply, published under Trajan, soon after the death of Nerva, 97
A.D.; a complete and valuable
account.

304

(2) Strategemata.—A manual of strategy, in three books,
consisting of historical examples derived chiefly from Sallust, Caesar,
and Livy.

3. Style.

Simple and concise: ‘he shuns the conceits of the period and goes
back to the republican authors, of whom (and especially of Caesar’s
Commentaries) his language strongly reminds us.’—Cruttwell.

AULUS GELLIUS, circ. 123-175 A.D.

1. Life.

GELLIUS.

All that is known about his life is gathered from occasional hints in
his own writings. He seems to have spent his early years at Rome,
studying under the most famous teachers, first at Rome and afterwards at
Athens, and then to have returned to Rome, where he spent the remaining
years of his life in literary pursuits and in the society of a large
circle of friends.

2. Works.

The Noctes Atticae (so called because it was begun during the
long nights of winter in a country house in Attica) in twenty books
consists of numerous extracts from Greek and Roman writers on subjects
connected with history, philosophy, philology, natural science and
antiquities, illustrated by abundant criticisms and discussions. It is,
in fact, a commonplace book, and the arrangement of the contents is
merely casual, following the course of his reading of Greek and Latin
authors. The work is, however, of special value to us from the very
numerous quotations from ancient authors preserved by him alone.

3. Style.

His language is sober but full of archaisms, which he much affected
(he gives, therefore, no quotations from post-Augustan writers). His
style shows the defects of an age in which men had ceased to feel the
full meaning of the words they used, and strove to hide the triviality
of a subject under obscure phrases
305
and florid expression. Yet, on the whole, he is a very interesting
writer, and the last that can in any way be called classical.

QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS, 65-8 B.C.

1. Important Events in the Life of Horace.

B.C. 65. Born at Venusia (Venosa) on the confines of Apulia
and Lucania.

B.C. 53-46. Educated at Rome under the famous plagosus
Orbilius.

„ 46-44. At the University of Athens.

„ 44-42. Served under Brutus as tribunus militum:
fought at Philippi.

„ 42-39. Pardoned by Octavianus and allowed to return to
Rome. His poverty compelled him to write verses, prob. Sat. I,
ii. iii. iv., and some Epodes. Through these he obtained the
notice of Varius and Vergil, who became his fast friends and

„ 33. Maecenas bestowed upon him a Sabine farm (about 15
miles N.E. of Tivoli). For fullest description see Epist. I.
xvi.

„ 31. Satires, Book II, and Epodes
published.

„ 23. Odes, Books I-III published.

„ 20. Epistles, Book I published.

„ 17. Carmen Saeculare written at the request of
Augustus for the Ludi Saeculares.

„ 13. Odes, Book IV published.

„ 12. Epistles, Book II published.

„ 8. Died in the same year as his friend and
patron Maecenas.

3. Works.

(1) Odes, in four books, and Epodes.—The words of
Cicero (pro Archia 16) best describe the abiding value of the
four Books of the Odes—Adolescentiam alunt (strengthen),
senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac
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solacium praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant
nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur. In them we see a poet, as
Quintilian says, verbis felicissime audax—most happily
daring in his use of words and endowed, as Petronius says, with
curiosa felicitas, a subtle happiness of expression—‘what
oft was thought but ne’er so well express’d.’

(2) Satires (Sermones) in two Books.—Horace’s chief
model is Lucilius, whom he wished to adapt to the Augustan age. To touch
on political topics was impossible; Horace employed satire to display
his own individuality and his own views on various subjects. Book I (his
earliest effort) is marred by faults in execution and is often wanting
in good taste; but in Book II ‘he uses the hexameter to exhibit the
semi-dramatic form of easy dialogue, with a perfection as complete as
that of Vergil in the stately and serious manner. In reading these
Satires we all read our own minds and hearts.’—Mackail.

(3) The Epistles (Sermones) in two Books, and Ars
Poetica (Ep. ad Pisones).—These represent his most
mature production. As a poet Horace now stood without a rival. Life was
still full of vivid interest for him, but years (fallentis semita
vitae) had brought the philosophic mind. ‘To teach the true end and
wise regulation of life, and to act on character from within, are the
motives of the more formal and elaborate epistles.’—Sellar.

The Ars Poetica is a résumé of Greek criticism on the
drama.

3. Style.

‘With the principal lyric metres, the Sapphic and Alcaic, Horace had
done what Vergil had accomplished with the dactylic hexameter, carried
them to the highest point of which the foreign Latin tongue was
capable.’—Mackail.

‘As Vergil is the most idealising exponent of what was of permanent
and universal significance in the time, Horace is the most complete
exponent of its actual life and movement. He is at once the lyrical
poet, with heart and imagination responsive to the deeper meaning and
lighter amusements of life, and the satirist, the moralist, and the
literary critic of the age.’—Sellar.

JUSTINUS, circ. 150 A.D. (temp. Antoninus Pius).

1. Life.

JUSTINUS.

We know nothing positively about him, though probably he lived in the
age of the Antonines. Teuffel says ‘Considering his correct mode of
thinking and the
307
style of his preface, we should not like to put him much later than
Florus, who epitomised Livy.’

2. Works.

Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi, in forty-four
Books.—An abridgment of the Universal History of Pompeius Trogus
(temp. Livy). The title Historiae Philippicae was given to
it by Trogus because its main object was to give the history of the
Macedonian monarchy, with all its branches, but he allowed himself, like
Herodotus, to indulge in such large digressions that it was regarded by
many as a Universal History. It was arranged according to nations; it
began with Ninus, the Nimrod of legend, and was brought down to about 9
A.D.

3. Style.

Justinus (as he tells us in his Preface) made it his business to form
an attractive reading-book—breve veluti florum corpusculum
feci (an anthology)—and his chief merit is that he seems to
have been a faithful abbreviator.

DECIMUS JUNIUS JUVENALIS, 55-138 A.D.

1. Life.

JUVENAL.

Of Juvenal’s life very little is certainly known. Thirteen lives of
him exist, which are confused and contradictory in detail. From the
evidences of the Satires we learn that he lived from early youth at
Rome, but went for holidays to Aquinum, a town of the Volscians
(where perhaps he was born in the reign of Nero); that he had a small
farm at Tibur, and a house in Rome, where he entertained his friends in
a modest way; that he had been in Egypt; that he wrote Satires late in
life; that he reached his eightieth year, and lived into the reign of
Antoninus Pius. He complains frequently and bitterly of his poverty and
of the hardships of a dependent’s life. In short, the circumstances of
his life were very similar to those of Martial, who speaks of Juvenal as
a very intimate friend.

The famous inscription at Aquinum—which Duff considers does not
refer to the poet but to a wealthy kinsman of his—indicates that
he had served in the army as commander of a Dalmatian cohort, and, as
one of the chief men of the town,
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was superintendent of the civic worship paid to Vespasian after his
deification.

All the Lives assert that Juvenal was banished to Egypt—Juvenal
himself never alludes to this—for offence given to an actor who
was high in favour with the reigning Emperor (Hadrian according to Prof.
Hardy), and that he died in exile.

2. Works.

Saturae, sixteen, grouped in five Books.

Books I-III (Satires 1-9) are sharply divided both in form and
substance from Books IV-V (Satires 10-16), which are not satires at all,
but moral essays, in the form of letters. The first nine satires present
a wonderfully vivid picture of the seamy side of life at Rome at the end
of the first century. We must, however, read side by side with them the
contemporary Letters of Pliny, in which we find ourselves in a different
world from that scourged by the satirist.

‘His chief literary qualities are his power of painting lifelike
scenes, and his command of brilliant epigrammatic phrase.’—Duff.
Nothing, for instance, could surpass his picture of the fall of Sejanus
(Sat. x. 56-97). His power of coining phrases is seen in these
sententiae: nemo repente fuit turpissimus—expende
Hannibalem: quot libras in duce summo | invenies: maxima
debetur puero reverentia: mens sana in corpora
sano—which are familiar proverbs among educated men.

Juvenal tells us that he takes all life, all the world, for his
text:

Quidquid agunt homines, Votum, Timor, Ira, Voluptas,

Gaudia, Discursus, nostri est farrago libelli

(the motley subject of my page).—Sat. i. 85-6.

TITUS LIVIUS PATAVINUS, circ. 59 B.C.-17 A.D.

1. Life.

LIVY.

Livy was born at Patavium (Padua) between the years 59 and 57
B.C. Little is known of his life, but
his aristocratic sympathies, as seen in his writings, seem to suggest
that he was of good family. Padua was a populous and busy place, where
opportunities for public speaking were abundant and the public life
vigorous; thus Livy was early trained in eloquence, and lived amid
scenes of
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human activity. About 30 B.C. he
settled at Rome, where his literary talents secured the patronage and
friendship of Augustus. But though a courtier he was no flatterer.
‘Titus Livius,’ says Tacitus (Ann. iv. 34), ‘pre-eminently famous
for eloquence and truthfulness, extolled Cn. Pompeius in such a
panegyric that Augustus called him Pompeianus, and yet this was no
obstacle to their friendship.’ He returned to his native town before his
death, 17 A.D., at the age of
about 75.

2. Works.

History of Rome (Ab urbe condita Libri), a
comprehensive account in 142 Books of the whole History of Rome from the
foundation of the City to the death of Drusus, 9 A.D. It is probable that he intended to continue his
work in 150 Books, down to the death of Augustus in 14 A.D., the point from which Tacitus starts. The
number of Books now extant is 35, about one fourth of the whole number,
but we possess summaries (Periochae or Argumenta) of
nearly the whole work. The division of the History into decades (sets of
ten Books), though merely conventional, is convenient. According to this
arrangement the Books now extant are:

Books I-X, 754-293 B.C., to nearly
the close of the Third Samnite War.

Books XXI-XXX, 219-201 B.C., the
narrative of the Second Punic War.

Books XXXI-XLV, 201-167 B.C.,
describe the Wars in Greece and Macedonia, and end with the triumph of
Aemilius Paulus after Pydna, 168 B.C.

3. Style.

His style is characterised by variety, liveliness, and
picturesqueness. ‘As a master of style Livy is in the first rank of
historians. He marks the highest point which the enlarged and enriched
prose of the Augustan age reached just before it began to fall into
decadence. . . . The periodic structure of Latin prose,
which had been developed by Cicero, is carried by him to an even greater
complexity and used with a greater daring and
freedom. . . . His imagination never fails to kindle at
great actions; it is he, more than any other author, who has impressed
the great soldiers and statesmen of the Republic on the imagination of
the world.’—Mackail.

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4. The Speeches.

‘The spirit in which he writes History is well illustrated by the
Speeches. These, in a way, set the tone of the whole work. He does not
affect in them to reproduce the substance of words actually spoken, or
even to imitate the colour of the time in which the speech is laid. He
uses them rather as a vivid and dramatic method of portraying character
and motive.’—Mackail. ‘Everything,’ says Quintilian (X. i.
101), ‘is perfectly adapted both to the circumstances and personages
introduced.’

5. The Purpose of his History.

The first ten books of Livy were being written about the same time as
the Aeneid; both Vergil and Livy had the same patriotic purpose,
‘to celebrate the growth, in accordance with a divine dispensation, of
the Roman Empire and Roman civilisation.’—Nettleship. Livy,
however, brought into greater prominence the moral causes which
contributed to the growth of the Empire. In his preface to Book I, § 9,
he asks his readers to consider what have been the life and habits of
the Romans, by aid of what men and by what talents at home and in the
field their Empire has been gained and extended. Only by virtue and
manliness, justice and piety, was the dominion of the world
achieved.

‘In ancient Rome he sees his ideal realised, and romanus hence
signifies in his language all that is noble. He thus involuntarily
appears partial to Rome, and unjust to her enemies, notably to the
Samnites and Hannibal.’—Teuffel.

‘As the title of Gesta Populi Romani was given to the
Aeneid on its appearance, so the Historiae ab Urbe Condita
might be called, with no less truth, a funeral
eulogy—consummatio totius vitae et quasi funebris laudatio
(Sen. Suas. VI. 21)—delivered, by the most loving and most
eloquent of her sons, over the grave of the great
Republic.’—Mackail.

Lucan was a nephew of M. Annaeus Novatus (the Gallio of Acts xviii.
12-17), and of Seneca, the philosopher and tutor of Nero. ‘Rhetoric and
Stoic dogma were the staple of his mental training. For a much-petted,
quick-witted youth, plunged into such a society as that of Rome in the
first century A.D., hardly any
training could be more mischievous. Puffed up with presumed merits and
the applause of the lecture-room and the salon, he became a
shallow rhetorician, devoted to phrase-making and tinsel ornament, and
ready to write and declaim on any subject in verse or prose at the
shortest notice.’—Heitland. Silenced by Nero, in an enforced
retirement—probably in the stately gardens spoken of by Juvenal
vii. 79-80 contentus fama iaceat Lucanus in hortis
Marmoreis—Lucan may repose in his park adorned with statues and
find fame enough—he brooded over his wrongs, and despairing of
any other way of restoration to public life, joined the ill-fated
conspiracy of Piso.

2. Works.

The Pharsalia (or De Bello Civili), an epic poem in ten
Books, from the beginning of the Civil War down to the point where
Caesar is besieged in Alexandria, 49-48 B.C. His narrative thus runs parallel to Caesar’s De
Bello Civili, but it contains some valuable additional matter and
gives a faithful picture of the feeling general among the nobility of
the day.

3. Style.

‘To Lucan’s rhetorical instincts and training, and the influence of
the recitations which Juvenal Sat. iii. tells us were
312
so customary and such a nuisance in his day, are due the great defects
of the Pharsalia. We see the sacrifice of the whole to the parts,
neglect of the matter in an over-studious regard for the manner,
a self-conscious tone appealing rather to an audience than to a
reader, venting itself in apostrophes, digressions, hyperbole
(over-drawn description), episodes and epigrams, an unhappy
laboriousness that strains itself to be first-rate for a moment, but
leaves the poem second-rate for ever.’—Heitland.

The general effect of Lucan’s verse is one of steady monotony, due to
a want of variety in the pauses and in the ending of lines, and a too
sparing use of elision, by which Vergil was able to regulate the
movement of lines and make sound and sense agree.

‘In spite of its immaturity and bad taste the poem compels admiration
by its elevation of thought and sustained brilliance of execution; it
contains passages of lofty thought and real beauty, such as the dream of
Pompeius, or the character which Cato gives of Pompeius, and is full of
quotations which have become household words; such as, In se magna
ruunt—Stat magni nominis umbra—Nil actum reputans si quid
superesset agendum (a line which rivals Caesar’s
energy).’—Mackail.

The brief and balanced judgment of Quintilian (Inst. Orat. X.
i. 90) sums up Lucan in words which suggest at once his chief merits and
defects as a poet: Lucanus ardens et concitatus et sententiis
clarissimus et magis oratoribus quam poetis imitandus—Lucan has
fire and point, is very famous for his maxims, and indeed is rather a
model for orators than poets.

GAIUS LUCILIUS, circ. 170-103 B.C.

1. Life.

LUCILIUS.

Lucilius was born in the Latin town of Suessa of the Aurunci, in
Campania, of a well-to-do equestrian family. Velleius tells us that the
sister of Lucilius was grandmother to Pompeius, and that Lucilius served
in the cavalry under Scipio in the Numantine war, 134 B.C. Lucilius lived on very intimate terms with
Scipio Africanus Minor and Laelius, and died at Naples (103 B.C.), where he was honoured with a public
funeral.

2. Works.

Saturae in thirty Books, in various metres. Fragments only are
extant.

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‘After Terence he is the most distinguished and the most important in
his literary influence among the friends of Scipio. The form of
literature which he invented and popularised, that of familiar poetry,
was one which proved singularly suited to the Latin genius. He speaks of
his own works under the name of Sermones (talks)—a name
which was retained by his great successor and imitator Horace; but the
peculiar combination of metrical form with wide range of subject and the
pedestrian style of ordinary prose received in popular usage the name
Satura (mixture).’—Mackail.

‘The chief social vices which Lucilius attacks are those which
reappear in the pages of the later satirists. They are the two extremes
to which the Roman temperament was most prone: rapacity and meanness in
gaining money, vulgar ostentation and coarse sensuality in using
it.’—Sellar.

Juvenal says of him (Sat. i. 165-7):

‘When old Lucilius seems to draw his sword and growls in burning ire,
the hearer blushes for shame, his conscience is chilled for his
offences, and his heart faints for secret sins.’

T. LUCRETIUS CARUS, circ. 99-55 B.C.

1. Life.

LUCRETIUS.

Very little is known of his life. The subiect of his poem prevented
him from telling his own history as Catullus, Horace, and Ovid have
done, and his contemporaries seldom refer to him. The name Lucretius
suggests that he was descended from one of the most ancient patrician
houses of Rome, famous in the early annals of the Republic. He was
evidently a man of wealth and position, but he deliberately chose the
life of contemplation, and lived apart from the ambitions and follies of
his day. Donatus, in his life of Vergil, tells us that Lucretius died on
the day on which Vergil assumed the toga virilis, Oct. 15, 55
B.C.

2. Works.

The De Rerum Natura, a didactic poem in hexameter verse in six
Books. The poem was left unfinished at his death, and Munro supports the
tradition that Cicero both corrected it and superintended its
publication. The object of the poem is to
314
deliver men from the fear of death and the terrors of superstition by
the new knowledge of Nature:

Hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necessest

Non radii solis neque lucida tela diei

Discutiant, sed naturae species ratioque.

This terror of the soul, therefore, and this darkness must be
dispelled, not by the rays of the sun or the bright shafts of day, but
by the outward aspect and harmonious plan of nature.—S.

The source of these terrors is traced to the general ignorance of
certain facts in Nature—ignorance, namely, of the constitution and
condition of our minds and bodies, of the means by which the world came
into existence and is still maintained, and, lastly, of the causes of
many natural phenomena. Thus:

Books I and II uphold the principles of the Atomic Theory as held by
Epicurus (fl. 300 B.C.).

Book I states that the world consists of atoms and void. At line 694
is stated the important doctrine that the evidence of the senses alone
is to be believed—sensus, unde omnia credita pendent, the
senses on which rests all our belief.

Book II treats of the motions of atoms, including the curious
doctrine of the swerve, which enables them to combine and makes
freedom of will possible: then of their shapes and
arrangement.

Book III shows the nature of mind (animus) and life
(anima) to be material and therefore mortal. Therefore death is
nothing to us:

Nil igitur mors est ad nos neque pertinet hilum,

Quandoquidem natura animi mortalis habetur.

Death therefore to us is nothing, concerns us not a jot,

Since the nature of the mind is proved to be mortal.—(M.)

Book IV gives Lucretius’ theory of vision and the nature of dreams
and apparitions.

Book V explains the origin of the heavens, of the earth, of vegetable
and animal life upon it, and the advance of human nature from a savage
state to the arts and usages of civilisation.

Book VI describes and accounts for certain natural
phenomena—thunderstorms, tempests, volcanoes, earthquakes, and the
like. It concludes with a theory of disease, illustrated by a fine
description of the plague at Athens.

Professor Tyrrell says: ‘It is interesting to point to places
315
in which Lucretius or his predecessors had really anticipated modern
scientific research. Thus Lucretius recognises that in a vacuum every
body, no matter what its weight, falls with equal swiftness; the
circulation of the sap in the vegetable world is known to him, and he
describes falling stars, aerolites, etc., as the unused material of the
universe.’ The great truth that matter is not destroyed but only changes
its form is very clearly stated by Lucretius, and his account
(Book V) of the beginnings of life upon the earth, the evolution of
man, and the progress of human society is interesting and valuable.

3. Style.

‘Notwithstanding the antique tinge (e.g. his use of archaism,
assonance, and alliteration) which for poetical ends he has given to his
poem, the best judges have always looked upon it as one of the purest
models of the Latin idiom in the age of its greatest
perfection.’—Munro.

‘The language of Lucretius, so bold, so genial, so powerful, and in
its way so perfect.’—Nettleship.

Carmina sublimis tunc sunt peritura Lucreti,

Exitio terras cum dabit una dies.

Ovid. Am. I. xv. 23.

‘But till this cosmic order everywhere

Shattered into one earthquake in one day

Cracks all to pieces ... till that hour

My golden work shall stand.’

Tennyson, Lucretius.

MARCUS MANILIUS, fl. 12 A.D.

1. Life.

MANILIUS.

Nothing is known of his life. That he was not of Roman birth (perhaps
a native of N. Africa) is probable from the foreign colouring of
his language at the outset, which in the later books becomes more smooth
and fluent from increased practice.

2. Works.

The Astronomica in five Books of hexameter verse. The poem
should rather be called Astrology, as Astronomy is treated only in
Book I. He is proud of being the first writer on this subject in
Latin literature. A close study of Lucretius is obvious from
several passages: he often imitates Vergil, and in the legends (e.g. of
Perseus and Andromeda) Ovid.

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3. Style.

He is not a great poet; but he is a writer of real power both in
thought and style. In his introductions to each Book, and in his
digressions, he shows sincere feeling and poetical ability.

M. VALERIUS MARTIALIS, circ. 40-102 A.D.

1. Life.

MARTIAL.

He was born at Bilbilis in Hispania Tarraconensis (E. Spain),
a town situated on a rocky height overlooking the R. Salo:

Municipes, Augusta mihi quos Bilbilis acri

Monte creat, rapidis quem Salo cingit aquis.

X. ciii. 1-2.

His father gave him a good education, and at the age of twenty-three
(63 A.D.) he went to Rome. After
living there for thirty-five years, patronised by Titus and Vespasian,
he returned to Bilbilis soon after the accession of Trajan (98 A.D.), where he died circ. 102 A.D.

At Rome he for a time found powerful friends in his great countrymen
of the house of Seneca (Lucan and Seneca were then at the height of
their fame), and from 79 to 96 (temp. Trajan and Domitian) he
received the patronage of the Court, and numbered among his friends
Pliny the Younger, Quintilian, Juvenal, Valerius Flaccus, and Silius
Italicus. His complaints of his poverty are incessant. It is true that
he lived throughout the life of a dependent, but it is probable that
Martial was a poor man who contrived to get through a good deal of
money, and who mistook for poverty a capacity for spending more than he
could get.

2. Works.

Epigrammata in fourteen Books (Books XIII and XIV,
Xenia and Apophoreta, are two collections of inscriptions
for presents at the Saturnalia); also a Liber Spectacu­lorum
on the opening of the grand Flavian amphitheatre (the Coliseum) begun by
Vespasian and completed by Titus.

3. Style.

‘Martial did not create the epigram. What he did was to differentiate
the epigram and elaborate it. Adhering always to
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what he considered the true type of the literary epigram, consisting of
i. the preface, or description of the occasion of the epigram,
rousing the curiosity to know what the poet has to say about it; and,
ii. the explanation or commentary of the poet, commonly called the
point—he employed his vast resources of satire, wit,
observation, fancy, and pathos to produce the greatest number of
varieties of epigram that the type admits of. . . . What
Martial really stands convicted of on his own showing is of laughing at
that which ought to have roused in him shame and indignation, and of
making literary capital out of other men’s vices.’—Stephenson.
Among his good points are his candour, his love of nature, and the
loyalty of his friendships.

‘The greatest epigrammatist of the world, and one of its most
disagreeable literary characters.’—Merrill.

CORNELIUS NEPOS, circ. 100-24 B.C.

1. Life.

NEPOS.

Nepos was probably born at Ticinium on the R. Padus. He inherited an
ample fortune, and was thereby enabled to keep aloof from public life
and to devote himself to literature and to writing works of an
historical nature. In earlier life he was one of the circle of Catullus,
who dedicated a collection of poems to him (Catull. C. i.):
‘To whom am I to give my dainty, new-born little volume? To you,
Cornelius.’ He was also a friend and contemporary of Cicero, and after
Cicero’s death (43 B.C.) was one of
the chief friends of Atticus.

2. Works.

Of his numerous writings on history, chronology, and grammar we
possess only a fragment of his De Viris Illustribus (originally
in sixteen Books), a collection of Roman and foreign biographies.
Of this work there is extant one complete section, De Excellentibus
Ducibus Exterarum Gentium, and two lives,
318
those of Atticus and Cato the Younger, from his De Historicis
Latinis.

3. Style.

Nepos is a most untrustworthy historian, and his work possesses
little independent value. But his style is clear, elegant, and lively,
and he did much to make